Maturing Rose finally breaks through on U.S. soil

DUBLIN, Ohio -- There were a few of us who wondered if this day would ever come.

Not so much whether Justin Rose would ever win in the States, but if he could possibly take the tension, angst and white knuckles out of a Sunday round while under duress on the toughest tour on the planet.

Now this?

Rose, who over the years has eroded many familial stomach linings in the closing stretches of numerous global events, was such in control in the final round at the Memorial Tournament that his swing coach's wife, Kate Foley, stopped watching and all but conceded him the victory.

"It got to the point where she just went outside and started reading her magazine," laughed Sean Foley, Rose's coach of the past 11 months.

Playing a game with which the tournament host could doubtlessly identify, the 29-year-old Englishman methodically took apart storied Muirfield Village Golf Club, finally winning for the first time on American soil.

Hallowed soil at that.

"I'm going to guarantee it's not his last," host and founder Jack Nicklaus said.

Rose, who over the arc of his incredibly memorable career has sent his fans to the medicine cabinet for bottles of Dramamine and Pepto Bismol, if not to the liquor cabinet for harder sauce, never remotely blinked with a 6-under 66, the best round of the day -- on one of the tour's best tracks -- by two shots.

"He is maturing into a fine golfer," said his veteran caddie, Mark Fulcher. "He's using years of experience, positive and negative experience, to his advantage."

There's so much contained in that sentence, it's hard to know where to begin. Rose turned pro at age 17 after finishing fourth in the British Open as an amateur, thinking the world was his oyster. More like a bad clam -- he missed his first 22 cuts worldwide.

His father and mentor died in 2002, he suffered through two herniated discs, climbed to No. 6 in the world rankings, then dropped about 90 spots. Along the road, he topped the European Tour Order of Merit in 2007 when he won the tour finale, which in a way, served as his Sundays in microcosm.

At the Volvo Masters in late '07, Rose blew a four-shot lead on the back nine and had to survive a playoff to secure the money title. After a listless stretch last year, he hooked up in July with Foley, one of the rising standouts in the coaching field, and completely retooled his swing, tweaking his posture in particular.

If that was the final product on display on Sunday, everybody duck. There are four Englishmen in the top nine in the world rankings and Rose has the tool box to make it an even five. With four wins on the European Tour, he's been up there before, remember.

"I think I'm very much a forgotten man right now in English golf," Rose said. "Another reason why I'm here today is I haven't let it bother me, either.

"Certainly, I feel today I'm a better golfer than I was at No. 6 in the world. So I think sometimes standings can be misleading to a certain extent."

Rose shoots a 66 on Sunday to secure the victory. (AP)

The leaderboard wasn't. Rose began the day four shots back and surged into a share of the lead on the 11th hole. Rickie Fowler, the overnight leader, never knew what hit him. In one mid-round stretch, Rose birdied six of 12 holes and blew past everybody, despite a stiff breeze.

"That's hard to compete with," Fowler said.

Unlike in years past, Rose never remotely wobbled getting back to the clubhouse. It was downright clinical, and yes, influential people noticed.

"Your golf swing right now, it can't get any better," gushed Nicklaus to his newest winner afterward. "His swing this week, I thought was fantastic. He never made any mistakes."

Nicklaus' eldest son, Jackie, wasn't kidding when he pointed out to the fans around the 18th green for the awards ceremony what Leo Rose, age 15 months, was doing as his dad was being handed the winner's trophy. Rose's son was happily playing in one of the Muirfield bunkers.

"I think he's spending more time in the sand traps this week than you did," Jackie cracked over the course's P.A. system.

One of Rose's playing partners, Sean O'Hair, could certainly relate to Rose's career climb. O'Hair, whose tumultuous personal story has been often told, turned pro as a teen and endured some lean times trying to find a foothold.

"I can't tell you how happy I am for him," O'Hair said. "It's long overdue. He couldn't have played any better today. With all that's on the line, that's probably the best round of the week."

Stout praise, considering there was a 62 a day earlier. But there wasn't much doubt that, after maiden American victories earlier this year by Ian Poulter and Tim Clark, Rose was the top player who hadn't broken through on the PGA Tour.

"I am a little surprised, yeah," said Rory McIlroy of Rose's lengthy journey to the winner's circle in the States. "I mean it's what, 162 starts?"

Exactly right, laddie. Rose became the 10th winner in his 20s to win this year, though in many ways, it seems like he's been around forever. He's been a pro for parts of 13 years since that breakout party in 1998 at Royal Birkdale.

"I think certainly the Open championship, finishing fourth there skewed things for me in terms of my expectations," said Rose, who was 66th in the world rankings entering the week. "And certainly everybody else's expectations. But what I tried to do at the time is say, OK, Justin, forget the Open ever happened. Where do you stand? You had a great amateur career. You can obviously play the game. Now if you couple that with hard work, surely things have to pay off."

Eventually. Through all the unpredictable ups and downs, one thing has remained constant. Rose is one of the most personable and conscientious players in the game, a class act, win or lose. If there existed a world ranking for media and peer popularity, Rose would be in the top 10 already.

Everybody likes him. Now, of course, they like him even more. While Kate Foley might have chalked up the victory for Rose early in the round, Sean was riveted to his chair at home in Orlando, watching his new student do everything right and getting a vicarious thrill.

"To watch him go out and play like that, I can't imagine what that must feel like," Foley said. "I would have thrown up all over myself. It was something to see.

"The admiration just goes up to a different level."