US OPEN | REVIEW
A superb iron game and a steely demenour earned Rose, a 32 yearold Englishman, his maiden major championship at a brutal yet brilliant Merion Golf Club
Not One
for
Wilting
AFP
Justin Rose etched his name alongside the greats with his two-stroke triumph at last month’s US Open at storied Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia. This, writes Paul Prendergast, is a victory that has been building for years on the foundation of a steely, inner resolve forged by the trials and tribulations that life in the spotlight can serve up. 28
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Phil Mickelson (top), who now has six runner-up finishes at the US Open, wasn’t at his best during the final round, save for an amazing eagle holeout at the par-four 10th, which he celebrated with his caddie, “Bones”, in the traditional style; Jason Day (opposite) is also making a name for himself on the biggest stage, the Australian, who ended the event tied with Mickelson, has racked up four top-three finishes at majors 30
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t’s seems like an eternity ago that the South African-born Englishman became a household name with a pitchin birdie at Royal Birkdale’s difficult 18th hole to record an unlikely fourthplace finish at the 1998 Open Championship behind Mark O’Meara. Rose was then a 17-year old amateur and set out with stars in his eyes on what was touted as a ‘sure thing’ professional career, only to face the despair and embarrassment of missing his first 21 cuts as a professional. He could have put the cue in the rack right there but showed his resilience and determination to soldier on, returning to the European Tour via the qualifying school. The ensuing years are well documented; progressing to the PGA Tour in 2006 before stumbling and rising again to establish what is now acknowledged as a wonderfully successful and accomplished career, with a glittering array of individual and Ryder Cup moments on the highlight reel. All that was missing from the world number five’s resume heading into the US Open was a major. Enter Merion and a USGA setup that captivated Rose during his preparations the week before the championship. “What I first loved about Merion is how one of the local caddies described it, the first six holes are drama, the
second six holes are comedy, and the last six holes are tragedy. Like a good play, like a good theatrical play. “And that in a sense has been the way I framed up the golf course in my mind. Trying to get off to a solid start, trying to gain a little bit of ground in the middle and then hang on.” Of significance in his mental preparation was a refusal to accept that Merion would be the pushover predicted by many, even after the heavens opened earlier in the week to soften the defences of one of the shortest courses in Open history. “I certainly didn't buy into the 62s and 14under, but I figured that maybe four, five, sixunder par would be the winning total.” he said of the pre-tournament predictions. After rounds of 71, 69 and 71, Rose started the final round at one-over, two shots behind sentimental favourite Phil Mickelson, in search of a first national championship at his 23rd attempt. With the final round also a celebration of his 43rd birthday and on Father’s Day Sunday, the opportunity at hand and the theatre of the moment was palpable as an adoring gallery greeted Mickelson with rapturous applause on the first tee. With 1981 champion David Graham, the last man to win at Merion, watching on from the adjacent terrace – he hit all 18 greens and all but HKGOLFER.COM
one fairway during that final round 32 years ago, a certain reminder of how best to approach this most magnificent of championship tracks – Mickelson promptly emulated Graham’s start by missing the first fairway. Unlike Graham however, Mickelson continued to miss them and combined with a cold putter and the difficult setup, brought the field back into play very early in the round. However, two double bogeys either side of a birdie in the opening five holes actually did little to harm his chances as the rest of the contenders were also struggling. Steve Stricker, with his own aspirations of a first major and becoming the oldest Open champion at the age of 46, uncharacteristically drove out of bounds on the second hole then inexplicably followed that by shanking an iron out of bounds on his way to a triple bogey. Likewise, former world number one Luke Donald, playing with Rose, was clearly rattled after striking a young female volunteer with a wayward tee shot on the third. Although she was not seriously injured, the normally unflappable Englishman’s game quickly unravelled with a string of poor holes. Charl Schwartzel started the round a stroke behind Mickelson and opened with a birdie to tie the lead. The moment and Merion got to the polished South African thereafter, posting an eight-over stretch in eight holes on his way to a final round 78. It soon became clear through the middle of the round that the likely winner would come from Mickelson, Rose, Hunter Mahan and 25year old Australian Jason Day, himself a runnerup in 2011 to Rory McIlroy and a near winner of this year’s Masters. Day started the round three strokes behind Mickelson but caught him with a one-under front nine and a birdie at the short par-four 10th to gain a share of the lead. Rose also played the front nine in one-under but had the wind taken from his sails after three-putting the 11th after a bold approach had covered the flag. A hole behind, Mickelson had made the turn in three-over and his prospects were not improved after laying up in the rough at the 10th. What followed however was vintage Phil, holing his wedge from 76 yards, electrifying Merion and the championship in the process. Mickelson’s leap in the air after the ball disappeared was reminiscent of his reaction to holing his final putt at the 2004 Masters for his first Green Jacket. On the 11th green, Rose heard the roars and immediately knew what had transpired. “I knew it had to be an eagle because nobody (spectators) can get very close to the green on 10. A birdie there ... would be polite applause. So I knew to have that kind of reaction it wasn't a birdie, it was an eagle.” HKGOLFER.COM
Of significance in Rose’s mental preparation was a refusal to accept that Merion would be the pushover predicted by many, even after the heavens opened earlier in the week to soften the defences of one of the shortest courses in Open history. With the threat from Mickelson reinvigorated, Rose responded with some telling blows himself. “I immediately answered with birdie, birdie of my own on 12 and 13. And I think that that point was huge because it just gave me that little bit of leeway playing the last five holes.” He added: “I kind of knew that no one was going to play the last five perfectly, so if you were coming into the last five holes two or three-over par already, you were going to have a hard time closing out the tournament. You kind of needed that little bit of a cushion. And that's what the birdies on 12 and 13 gave me.” Rose entered the final five holes (Part III – ‘The Tragedy’) having played them in six-over par for the first three rounds. It was during this stretch that Graham had separated himself from the field in ’81 by playing them in two-under. Adding to the difficulty of this stretch this time around was the rain and wind that hit as the players approached the last segment of the course. Rose bogeyed the long 14th from the greenside bunker to drop back to even par and HK Golfer・JUL 2013
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two exceptional scrambling pars from Mahan and Mickelson on the same hole reduced Rose’s lead to just one. However, both would fall back on the 15th after poor approach shots, most alarmingly from Mickelson who had only a gap wedge to the green. This came after he airmailed the tiny par-three 13th to also drop a shot. For one of the best wedge players in the history of the game, these were almost unimaginable errors. “13 and 15 were the two bad shots of the day that I'll look back on where I let it go,” Mickelson lamented after the round. “At 13, I hit a pitching wedge and when I was drawing that shot I had too much club. I needed a gap wedge and it would have been a better fit. “Then I did hit the gap wedge on 15, I quit on Justin Rose (left) looks to the it, and missed it short left. If I had hit that one heavens after sinking what aggressively and flown it past the hole, I think it proved to be the winning would have given me a birdie chance. So those putt at Merion; Rose’s father and one-time coach died 11 two wedge shots were the two costly shots, I felt.” Rose three-putted the 16th from 35 feet above years ago of leukemia; Luke the hole to drop back to one-over but his Donald (top), who held the lead for much of rounds two following three swings would ultimately win and three, faded on Sunday him the championship. At the 229-yard 17th, 32
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Rose’s 5 iron was striped at the hole and came to rest just off the fringe some 12 feet from the cup for a simple up and down – if there is such a thing at this stage of the championship. At the brutal 18th, Day’s dogged bid for the title ended when a four-footer lipped out for a closing bogey and a three-over total just as Rose strode to the tee with his destiny in his own hands. Facing the most important drive of his life, he found the centre of the fairway in “Hoganesque” fashion, leaving him almost the exact same yardage to the flag as the previous hole. The poignancy of the moment and the historical similarities with Ben Hogan’s famous one-iron approach to the final green in 1950 were not lost on Rose. “When I walked over the hill and saw my drive sitting perfectly in the middle of the fairway, with the sun coming out, it was kind of almost fitting. And I just felt like at that point it was a good iron shot on to the green, two putts, like Hogan did, and possibly win this championship,” he said. Rose’s approach was perfectly struck and never left the flag, releasing just over the green into a good lie. “I felt like I did myself justice and probably put enough of a good swing where Ben Hogan might have thought it was a decent shot too.” Rose said of his four-iron approach. Using a 3-wood to putt the ball through the fringe, Rose left himself with the least stressful shot of his final round – a tap-in, followed by a tearful salute to the heavens in memory of his late father Ken, who passed away 11 years ago. “I've holed a putt to win a major championship HK Golfer・JUL 2013
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Facing the most important drive of his life, he found the centre of the fairway in “Hoganesque” fashion. The poignancy of the moment and the historical similarities with Ben Hogan’s famous one-iron approach to the final green in 1950 were not lost on Rose.
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US Open Final Standings 1
Justin Rose
ENG
71 69 71 70
281 US$1,440,000
2=
Jason Day
AUS
70 74 68 71
283
US$696,104
Phil Mickelson
USA
67 72 70 74
283
US$696,104
4=
Jason Dufner
USA
74 71 73 67
285
US$291,406
Ernie Els
RSA
71 72 73 69
285
US$291,406
Billy Horschel
USA
72 67 72 74
285
US$291,406
Hunter Mahan
USA
72 69 69 75
285
US$291,406
8=
Luke Donald
ENG
68 72 71 75
286
US$210,006
Steve Stricker
USA
71 69 70 76
286
US$210,006
10= Hideki Matsuyama
JPN
71 75 74 67
287
US$168,530
Nicolas Colsaerts
BEL
69 72 74 72
287
US$168,530
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
ESP
71 72 72 72
287
US$168,530
Rickie Fowler
USA
70 76 67 74
287
US$168,530
14
Charl Schwartzel
RSA
70 71 69 78
288
US$144,444
15= Lee Westwood
ENG
70 77 69 73
289
US$132,453
AUS
70 71 74 74
289
US$132,453
17= John Huh
USA
71 73 75 71
290
US$115,591
Brandt Snedeker
USA
74 74 70 72
290
US$115,591
David Lingmerth
SWE
74 71 71 74
290
US$115,591
Michael Kim*
USA
73 70 71 76
290
21= Martin Laird
SCO
74 73 76 68
291
US$86,579
David Hearn
CAN
78 69 73 71
291
US$86,579
Padraig Harrington
IRL
73 71 75 72
291
US$86,579
Matthew Goggin
AUS
68 74 76 73
291
US$86,579
Bo Van Pelt
USA
73 71 72 75
291
US$86,579
Ian Poulter
ENG
71 71 73 76
291
US$86,579
Henrik Stenson
SWE
74 68 73 76
291
US$86,579
John Senden
* Denotes amateur
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“I texted my mum late last night and I said, ‘Let's do it for dad’ tomorrow. And she just simply texted me back, ‘That would be fantastic’. And I did get hold of her after my round and we both were in floods of tears speaking to each other. She misses him immensely, I miss him immensely. And I thought today was just a fitting time in which I could honour him by looking up.” For the runners-up Day and Mickelson, their reactions were indicative of the different points in time in their careers. Both were disappointed but for Day in particular, there was cause for optimism after two close shaves at the majors in 2013. “I've been close so many times now in majors, especially at a young age, which is nice,” said Day. “And you've got to understand that ‘Scotty’ [Adam Scott] is in his young 30s and same with ‘Rosie’, I guess. I'm still 25, I turn 26 at the end of the year. I've got plenty of majors to play in and hopefully I can keep doing the same as I'm doing and hopefully win one soon.” For Mickelson however, the reality of a sixth US Open runner-up finish hit home immediately. “For me, it's very heart breaking. Playing very well here and really loving the golf course, this week was my best opportunity, I felt, heading in, certainly the final round, the way I was playing and the position I was in. “But this one's probably the toughest for me, because at 43 and coming so close five times, it would have changed way I look at this tournament altogether and the way I would have looked at my record. Except, I just keep feeling heartbreak.” From the USGA’s perspective in every aspect other than financial [it is thought that hosting the tournament at Merion earned the Association US$10 million less than at other venues], this ‘boutique’ U.S. Open was an overwhelmingly and satisfying success, justification for the decision to bring the championship back after more than three decades. The one-over par winning score matched the score from 2012 at Olympic and another worthy champion was identified in Rose. The field averaged over 74.5 strokes for the championship against a par of 70, which certainly validated the comment made by Jack Nicklaus – “Merion has some holes you can abuse but there are holes that will abuse you” – from earlier in the year. The top two players in the world – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – enjoyed their share of ‘abuse’ playing together for three rounds and finishing at 13- and 14-over respectively. The final word on Merion deservedly goes to Rose, who has advanced to third in the world rankings: “I don't think anybody expected this golf course to hold up the way it did. But it surprised everybody. And I'm just glad I was kind of the last man standing.” HKGOLFER.COM
Amateur Kim Gets a Taste of the Big Time Low amateur Michael Kim impressed many with his outstanding play during the week at Merion, contending deep into Saturday before a late stumble over the difficult closing holes. The 19 year-old’s final-round 76 included double bogeys on the 11th and 18th but his 10-over-par 290 finish saw the University of CaliforniaBerkeley junior earn a highly creditable 17th-place finish. “That feels awesome,” said Kim, a Korean-born American. “I had a difficult ending, but overall the week [was] just an unbelievable experience.” The opportunity to mix and play with the world’s best players over four days of a major was another priceless experience. “I think I gained a lot of confidence from that. I met a tonne of great players out here and just looking forward to what my future holds,” he said. Kim got to play practice and competition rounds with players like Rickie Fowler, Bo Van Pelt and KJ Choi, which he described as “awesome”, and a good yardstick for where his game needs to progress. Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy told him during their third round together that the rough at Merion was about as bad as he had seen it at an Open, which makes Kim’s performance even more meritorious. However, the most enduring memory for Kim is seeing his name on the leaderboard on Saturday, after he’d fired four birdies on the opening six holes on the back nine to threaten the lead.
“I could have stared at that leaderboard for hours on end and wouldn't have stopped,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
Matsuyama Earns His stripes at Merion Young Japanese tyro Hideki Matsuyama continued his meteoric rise in the world of golf with a remarkable top-10 finish in his first US Open outing. Adding the icing to the cake, Matsuyama’s final round 67 matched the low round of the tournament and tied the low round of the day with Jason Dufner. “It was great to play here. It was a great experience for me to be able to play a course that was so difficult ... and the setting was very difficult too,” Matsuyama said after the round. “To play well the final day has given me a lot of confidence and I'm looking forward to more experiences like this.” Matsuyama earned his first US Open start after earning medallist honours at the championship qualifier in Japan and headed to Merion after a fantastic four-tournament stretch on the Japan Golf Tour; starting with victory in the Tsuruya Open in April, the 21-year-old recorded runner-up finishes at The Crowns and PGA Championship Nissin Cupnoodles Cup before his second win of the year arrived at the Diamond Cup Golf tournament in late May. Matsuyama has also qualified for his first Open Championship start at Muirfield after getting through the International Qualifier in Bangkok back in March. Readers may remember Matsuyama qualifying for his first Masters Tournament in 2010 as an 18-year old on the back of winning the 2010 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the same path to Augusta followed by 14 year-old Guan Tianlang this year. Matsuyama made the cut and earned low amateur honours that time, returning again in 2011 (after winning his second successive Asia-Pacific Amateur title) to finish in a tie for 54th.
We’re sure to be seeing a lot more of the young Japanese star in the upcoming months. His outstanding US Open performance has catapulted him into the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings and he has boosted his chances of making Nick Price’s International Team for October’s Presidents Cup. He currently lies in seventh spot in the qualifying standings with the top 10 players automatically earning their berths at Muirfield Village. AFP
hundreds of thousands of times on the putting green at home. Pretty happy it was a twoincher on the last!” he quipped. Fittingly, the championship’s final act would come down to Mickelson. After not being able to convert an extremely difficult putt down and across the ridge for birdie on the 17th, Mickelson came to the final hole needing to do what the entire field had failed to do on the weekend – birdie the 18th – to force a play-off. After finding the rough with his tee shot and forcing an iron out and around a tree to the apron fronting the green, Mickelson’s pitch for birdie slid past the hole to confirm a first major for Rose, the first for an Englishman since Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters and the first English US Open champion since Tony Jacklin in 1970. An emotional Rose celebrated the moment in the clubhouse with wife Kate and caddie Mark Fulcher and reflected on his father’s contribution to finally realising his dream of a major championship.
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