British Open Profile: Justin Rose

Best Odds: 20/1 (Coral)
Age: 32
World Ranking: 3
Best Result in Open: T4 - 1998

Open Record:

Shot to fame as a 17-year-old when he holed a dramatic shot from the rough on the 18th hole at Birkdale to finish T4, only two shots back from winner Mark O’Meara’s final score. That won Rose the leading amateur medal but he will be disappointed never to have reached those heights again as a professional in the Open. There have been four cuts missed and a number of years without entry. On the plus side there have been four top-30 finishes along the way, including at Muirfield in 2002.

Form:

Having ended England’s long wait for a major winner last month, nobody looks more primed for an assault on the Open. In hindsight you can say that Rose’s big moment had been coming as he kept climbing the rankings and he won his first WGC event in 2012. This year he is 1st in the Race to Dubai and 6th in the Fed-Ex standings; an impressive second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational hinted at what was to come.

Verdict:

One of the outstanding candidates after proving he could get the job done in the US Open at Merrion. Prior to that, his bottle had been best illustrated during his star turn at last year’s Ryder Cup. From a character point of view, he is really reminiscent of Padraig Harrington who quickly won two further majors after breaking his duck at the 2007 Open. Could something similar happen with Rose?