Breakfast Ball #83: Resilient Rose in Full Bloom

Just when you thought he might be fading away, Justin Rose proves everyone wrong. What a win!

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Justin Rose’s Resilience Shines Through in Dramatic Victory in Memphis

Resilience is a fascinating human trait — it’s one of the few qualities that can only reveal itself when tested. In golf, those tests come almost weekly. More than 150 players tee it up each week, and only one leaves as the winner.

It’s easy to imagine resilience being forged in the depths of the leaderboard, battling through missed cuts and bad breaks. But in truth, the sting of defeat is often sharpest when it comes on the brink of triumph.

Justin Rose knows that feeling all too well. Earlier this year, he lost a playoff at the Masters to Rory McIlroy, the second time he’s fallen just short in a one-on-one duel for the green jacket. “To give myself an opportunity and a chance was an unbelievable feeling,” Rose reflected after the loss. “Obviously I've been in this position before. It's definitely tough, but I bounced back pretty well from that, too. Went on to be World No. 1.”

This week in Memphis, Rose proved once again that he knows how to bounce back. With poise, precision, and the kind of quiet determination that defines his career, he captured an emotional victory at the St. Jude Championship.

With five holes remaining on Sunday, Rose trailed by three shots and appeared all but out of the running. But he refused to let the moment slip away. “I know when it matters, I’ve still got it,” he said. “I kind of feel better and better and better as it gets more important.”

A perfect six iron into the par-3 14th set up the first of four birdies in a row that propelled Rose into the lead. A costly bogey on the 17th from Tommy Fleetwood meant Rose would battle U.S. Open Champion J.J. Spaun in a playoff for the title.

When his biggest win in almost 10 years was on the line, Rose just kept on getting better and better. After watching his 13-foot birdie attempt lip out on the first playoff hole, he responded on the second with a precise approach to seven feet — only for J.J. Spaun to drain a stunning 30-footer to keep the contest alive.

Unfazed, Rose delivered again on the third playoff hole, sticking his approach to 11 feet and calmly rolling in the birdie. When Spaun failed to match him, the title was finally his.

It was a true display of toughness, perseverance, and most of all, resilience.

More Notes from Memphis:

• 🇪🇺 The win guaranteed Rose of a place on the European Ryder Cup team and a spot in the Tour Championship, his first appearance at East Lake since 2019

  • Rose has the second most wins of any European on the PGA Tour with 12, behind Rory McIlroy at 29

• 😭 Tommy Fleetwood entered the final day two ahead of the field, but his search for an elusive first PGA Tour title goes on

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aaron Rai narrowly missed out on a spot at the BMW Championship, finishing the season ranked 53rd in the FedEx Cup rankings

• 🔛 11 Europeans are in the field for the next round of the playoffs, with 8 of those inside the top 30

Other News and Results from the Golfing World:

• 🇿🇦 Dean Burmester beat Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win LIV Chicago

  • The two spaniards both birdied the final hole in regulation to make it into the playoff after starting the day two strokes behind Burmester

  • Ballester was chasing his first pro win after joining LIV in June, but came up just short

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Grant Forrest was a home winner on the DP World Tour at the Nexo Championship

  • This was the first event at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the course provided a tough links challenge

  • The result was Forrest’s first top 10 of a difficult year to date — he jumped 85 spots in the season-long rankings with the win

• 🫠 The flop of the week goes to Connor Syme, who hit a 100-yard putt at the Nexo Championship over 60 yards off the green

  • It is great to watch the best players in the world do incredible things that an amateur could never dream of — however, it is also nice to sometimes see them do something we can completely relate to

• 🌹 The shot of the week goes to Justin Rose for this approach to the par-3 14th — at the time, he was three strokes behind the lead, and made just the second birdie of the entire day at this hole with a wonderful 6 iron

  • Rose would go on to birdie four holes in a row to catapult into the lead and setup his dramatic win: “Had to hit a perfect golf shot, that set up the birdie I needed to give myself a chance”

Coming up this week on Tour

• The playoffs continue with the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club just outside Baltimore, Maryland

• The Højgaard twins will return home for the Danish Golf Championship on the DP World Tour

  • The next two weeks are their last chance to gather points and impress captain Luke Donald before the Ryder Cup team is selected

• LIV Golf is expecting its biggest U.S. crowd ever at LIV Indianapolis

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