TROON, Scotland — All respect to Justin Rose.
The 44-year-old Englishman has 11 career wins, including the 2013 U.S. Open, he’s contributed to multiple European Ryder Cup victories and he’s wealthy beyond comprehension.
Yet just a few weeks ago, Rose was at a small golf club in England playing in a qualifying tournament to get into this week’s British Open at Royal Troon.
With four spots available, Rose finished second and earned his way into his 21st Open Championship.
In this world littered with too many entitled, spoiled and over-paid athletes, there was something incredibly refreshing seeing Rose put himself through the stress of trying to qualify for the Open.
The beauty of Rose’s path to Troon is that he embraced the challenge when others with his stacked resume might have scoffed at having to put themselves through it.
Why?
“I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Rose said. “I’m 44 soon. History would suggest [time is running out]. But I think The Open offers you that opportunity maybe more than some of the other majors. I still feel very kind of confident in myself that I can actually still improve. As long as that’s the case, I’ll keep kind of believing for sure.”
Rose backed his words during Friday’s second round, bettering his opening-round 2-under-par 69 with a 3-under 68 to stand at 5-under for the tournament, two shots behind leader Shane Lowry.
Rose put an exclamation point on his day with a birdie on No. 18, which drew massive roars from the huge grandstands enveloping the green.
“Yeah, that was such a fun way to finish,’’ he said. “To finish that way was obviously special with the crowds, being a fairly full grandstand Friday afternoon. It was really good to enjoy that one.’’
For Rose, whose best finish at an Open is a runner-up in 2018, this is his 44th start in a major since his victory at the 2013 U.S. Open. In that span, he has 13 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up results (2018 Open Championship, 2017 Masters Tournament, 2015 Masters Tournament).
He called winning an Open “still the dream,’’ adding, “You’ve got to be in it to win it, and the first big part of the journey was getting in the tournament. Even I look back at [qualifying site] Burnham & Berrow, we played in a really, really tough westerly breeze.
“That golf course is incredibly difficult in a westerly and I think even that little bit of experience of get back playing some tough links golf has probably help me a little bit these last two days.’’
When a British reporter noted to Rose that it’s been more than 30 years since an Englishman has won an Open, he politely interrupted and said, “That would be nice. When I won the U.S. Open it was our first since Tony Jacklin, so those are nice moments when it comes together and you can share the story of what it means, but you’re never thinking of it. We are pretty selfish from that point of view.
“We want it for us, and obviously it’s great to share it with everybody that it’s meaningful to, but in the moment you’re just trying to get the job done.’’
These were Rose’s words on the Saturday of the PGA Championship in May:
“I still believe in myself. I still believe I that I have these opportunities in me in majors for sure. This year has been a very difficult year. I haven’t seen much go my way in terms of tournament golf.
“What’s motivating me to stick with it and keep working hard is to try to give myself like the Indian summer of my career, try to steal one of these [majors] to really make it a fantastic career.’’
He’s 36 holes away from that, thanks to making the effort to qualify in the first place.