Justin Rose is far from ready to put his clubs into storage or even join the Champions Tour, for that matter, but he is at an interesting crossroads in his career. The 42-year-old is a 10X winner on the PGA Tour, including the 2013 U.S. Open for his only major, but January will mark four years since Rose’s last victory.
Rose had risen to World #1 in 2018/19, going back and forth with Brooks Koepka when both were red hot. Struggles over the last couple of years have dropped Rose all the way down to #76 in the OWGR, and he seems more likely to fall than climb at this point in his career. Does Rose have a comeback in him at all?
Rose Can Still Contend at Majors
It’s somewhat disappointing that Rose has just the one U.S. Open win on his mantle of majors. He kicked off his professional career leading the Open Championship after 36 holes and finished fourth as an amateur back in 1998.
He’s finished sixth and second at the Open Championship in the last seven years, was third at the U.S. Open in 2019, and was eighth at the PGA Championship and seventh at the Masters not that long ago in 2021, so Rose has been right in the hunt.
Time is not on the side of Rose, who turns 43 in July, but it’s not unfathomable that he would win another major or two still in his career. After all, Phil Mickelson was 50 when he won the 2021 PGA Championship, and Tiger Woods was 43 with the aches and pains of a 60-year-old when he donned the green jacket at Augusta in 2019.
A Bad 2022 Could Be What Rose Needed
Last year was the first time since 2014 that Rose did not place in the top 10 in any of the four majors. The odds were stacked against him a bit in 2022 since he didn’t play in the Open Championship at St. Andrews, but Rose’s finishes in the majors included missing the cut at the Masters, finishing in 37th at the U.S. Open, and a fairly decent 13th at the PGA Championship.
It wasn’t just majors where Rose struggled in 2022, as a fourth place at the RBC Canadian Open was the only time he placed inside the top 10 since January. He also hasn’t won on the European Tour since 2018.
When you have struggles like Rose has recently, you go one of two ways – use it as motivation or chalk it up as the beginning of the end of a successful run. It’s always sad when a golfer realizes his better days are probably behind him, but Rose can take over $57 million in career PGA winnings to ease his pain a bit.
Coming off such a poor showing in 2022, one thing is obvious, 2023 is a make or break for Rose.
