Being in contention becoming 'normal' for Rose, and it shows

text size

Martin/Getty Images

Justin Rose shot a 6-under 64 Friday to take a one-shot lead at the AT&T National.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- There was a time in Justin Rose's life when he couldn't handle the expectations. That's what happens to some guys when they tie for fourth in the British Open as a 17-year-old; or when they win four times in six months by age 21.

RELATED

Leaderboard
Scorecard: Rose
Live Report

For Rose, the weight of that expectation became a burden and he has carried it with him for much of his career -- until recently, when Rose says he learned to lighten up on himself.

The end result, or the beginning of it depending on your perspective, was his first career victory on the PGA TOUR at last month's Memorial tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. Since then, Rose has twice more been in contention in as many starts.

Save for a complete loss of feel for his putting in the final round of last week's Travelers Championship, we might be talking about two wins in his last two starts instead. Still, after a 64 Friday at Aronimink -- the low round of the week -- Rose is again on top heading into the weekend, this time at the AT&T National, where he has a one-shot lead at 7 under.

Did Rose take some Hot Tub Time Machine and turn into Nick Faldo? Not exactly.

"When you learn something, you've got to practice it for it to become natural," Rose said. "If you're not in contention that much it's very difficult to learn the lessons or to put into play the lessons that you learned."

The biggest lesson Rose learned Sunday in Hartford was that his game wasn't going to vanish in the middle of the night, not if you deal with it right away and ask yourself the right questions.

Rose did that by going back out to the ninth green at TPC River Highlands that night and hitting some putts, including one from where he missed earlier in the day. The putt went in and 90 minutes after shooting 75 whatever doubt might have carried over to this week was gone.

"I turned up here Monday morning feeling like I was a better player than I was Sunday," said Rose, who has eight birdies and just one bogey through 36 holes at the AT&T National. "You can never prevent it from happening again. I think that's the first thing to accept. You can't be scared of it happening again. You've just got to put yourself in that position, dig in, do your best."

It wasn't that long ago that many thought Rose would be one of the best players in the world. Instead, much of his career was filled with unfilled promise. And it was what didn't happen along the way that hurt the Englishman the most.

Rose missed the cut in the 2003 Open Championship and didn't even qualify for it the next three years. That included 2005 when it was at St. Andrews, where Rose was an alternate and was left on the driving range as a "spare part" after failing to get in.

"You see all your friends, you see all your buddies, you see people you know teeing it up and going out there experiencing the Old Course in an Open," Rose said. "I never wanted to do that again."

That's exactly what Rose was facing again this year, though.

There are a number of ways to get into the field for the Open Championship -- going through a qualifier among them. But Rose, who has dual membership on the PGA TOUR and European Tour, had to miss the first qualifier because of the European PGA Championship and the second for the Memorial tournament.

The irony of course is that Rose went on to win the Memorial tournament, which is what kick-started this whole run for him and will help him get into the Open Championship at St. Andrews. Rose sits atop a mini-money list of six events that ends this week and barring something drastic, he won't be left standing at the Open altar again.

"I knew that if I backed myself to play well, there were other ways in," Rose said.

Rose has done just that with his best stretch of golf since, well, his teenage years, when the world expected the world from him.

"Tiger, Phil, these guys, they get into contention a lot, and therefore it becomes more normal, and those feelings that they face become easier to deal with," Rose said.

Now they are for Rose, too.