02/02/26 08:05:00
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02/02 05:00 CST Justin Rose is 45 and No. 3 in the world of golf. He says he
still has 'gas in the tank'
Justin Rose is 45 and No. 3 in the world of golf. He says he still has 'gas in
the tank'
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) --- Justin Rose doesn't pay attention to his age no matter how
much he gets reminded.
His victory Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open was historic on a couple of
fronts. At age 45, he became the oldest winner of a tournament that dates to
1952. He became the first wire-to-wire winner at Torrey Pines in 71 years. He
broke the 72-hole tournament record at 23-under 265, beating by one the mark
held by Tiger Woods (1999) and George Burns (1987).
He also moved to No. 3 in the world, making him the second-oldest player behind
Vijay Singh to be ranked that high.
Rose must not have received the memo. The PGA Tour is supposed to be a young
man's game.
"Yeah, listen, I don't read into it," Rose said. "I don't buy into the
narrative of it, but I take the pride out of it, that I'm doing something
that's not easy to do. But I don't wake up in the morning and believe that
narrative, either."
He left Torrey Pines a year ago at No. 55 in the world. He ended the year at
No. 10 having lost another playoff at the Masters (to Rory McIlroy), won the
FedEx Cup playoff opener and qualified for his seventh Ryder Cup appearance. He
was the oldest player on the team by seven years.
There's that age thing again.
But it's no less remarkable considering how the numbers are dwindling. Rose is
among just 10 players 40 or older who have full PGA Tour status. That includes
50-year-old Tiger Woods, who last played in 2024 because of injuries, and
62-year-old Vijay Singh, who took a career money exemption and probably won't
play but a few times this year.
Harris English, the previous winner at Torrey Pines who qualified for the Ryder
Cup last year, is 36 and found himself not taking anything for granted.
"I don't know how much time I have left, maybe 10 years," English said last
week at The American Express. "It's getting way more competitive."
Joel Dahmen is trying to make do on conditional status this year. He's 38.
"The tour is so deep," he said. "These kids are so good. I think nine or 10
guys have their cards who are over 40."
The others with full cards 40 and over are Brice Garnett, Chris Kirk, Alex
Noren, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland.
The age really isn't an issue. Rose works hard, keeps fit and has added speed.
It's the motivation, the willingness to keep trying to improve when he has
already accomplished so much --- U.S. Open title, Olympic gold medal, reaching
No. 1 in the world, and one of the few players who can claim victory on all six
continents where golf is played.
"I'm still loving it," Rose said. "I'm still working hard. You've got to love
it to work hard. I still believe there's good stuff in front of me."
Woods was his motivation on Sunday. Rose had a six-shot lead and focused on
little goals to keep him pointed in the right direction. He wanted to expand
his lead for the third straight day. And he was aware the tournament record was
266 last matched by Woods in 1999.
No one got closer than six shots --- his lead at the start --- and he won by
seven. And closing with six pars gave him the tournament record.
"Those days or those weeks or those rounds are definitely showing me that the
gas is still in the tank," Rose said. "Obviously, accessing it is the job now.
How do I do that more often? That's always the trick, but at least knowing it's
there builds a lot of confidence."
His goals are clear. The next chance is April at Augusta National. Rose not
only joins Ben Hogan as the only players who twice lost a playoff in the
Masters, he has played with the Masters champion three times on Sunday ---
McIlroy last year, Sergio Garcia in 2017 and Jordan Spieth in 2015.
He also has six top 10s in the majors since turning 40. But his lone title was
the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. He doesn't want to end as a one-time major
champion, regardless of a career that is all but certain to land him in the
World Golf Hall of Fame.
"I think I just need to be patient with myself when the weeks slip by that
aren't great and just know that it's still there," he said. "Just know I'm
pretty good at gearing up for the weeks I want to play well and having that
experience to do that.
"Listen, I'd love to find a way to play well every single week," he added. "But
if I can find a way to hone in on the weeks that I really want to play well,
that would be enough for me to chase down some of the goals I have left in my
career."
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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