Year of the Big Breakthrough: Justin Rose

The season that forged a natural winner

Kipling had much to say about the passage to manhood, particularly in reference to how to handle triumph and disaster, and even by those lofty standards Justin Rose passes muster.

It was during 2002 that Rose finally found enduring success but it was also the year his father, Ken, lost his battle with cancer. As well as a loving parent, Ken was Justin's coach and mentor, and his death in September made the scene on a sunlit evening in June all the more poignant. It was the Golden Jubilee weekend and golf played its part in the celebrations by providing a thrilling duel between two young English golfers at the British Masters. After matching each other birdie for birdie, Rose eventually pipped Ian Poulter for the title. The runner-up graciously invited the whole Rose family to a barbecue at his home near Woburn, where Rose had been a house guest all week.

The celebrations were for the fourth win of Rose's career and his first on home soil. In other words it was the first, and only, victory witnessed in person by his father. "It was so nice for him to see me pick up a trophy at last," Rose said. "We have a lovely photo of all the family together at the prize-giving. That is a lovely memory to look back on."

In the wake of his father's death, Rose bravely stuck to his schedule. One of the goals he and his father had set was to qualify for the American Express World Championship in Ireland, and so it was there he returned to the Tour. "He was so pleased I made it into the field, so it was nice to be able to fulfil that goal."

Perhaps not surprisingly, Rose's golf in the autumn did not have the same spark as earlier in the season. But after completing the European Tour season with ninth place on the Order of Merit, Rose then finished fourth in two big events in Japan, the Taiheiyo Masters and the Dunlop Phoenix, before rounding off the season with joint third place alongside Paul Casey for England on his debut in the World Cup earlier this month.

Rose remained in Mexico for a short holiday and is spending Christmas and New Year in South Africa, the land of his birth, where he will start his 2003 season early in January. When he arrives at Houghton in Johannesburg, it will be the first of four occasions when he will be the defending champion.

A year ago the world at large had mostly forgotten about the young player who finished fourth as an amateur in the Open at Birkdale in 1998 and then turned professional and missed his first 21 cuts. But throw away the huge expectations placed upon him by that freakish Birkdale performance and here was a young professional going in the right direction.

Keeping his Tour card in 2000 and then finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit the next year was ample reward for the hard work Rose had done with his father and also David Leadbetter, as well as the perseverance shown in recovering from that dismal start to his pro career.

Winning the Dunhill Championship in front of his South African relations at the age of 21 gave him his maiden victory. Another followed at the Nashua Masters on the Sunshine Tour in the same country, a result that gave him an exemption into the Open Championship by finishing second on the local Order of Merit.

The next win came in May against an international field in Japan at the Chunichi Crowns. A month later and the British Masters title was added to the collection. "That elation is what you play for," Rose said on the feeling of winning. "It's easy to forget with all the money that's on offer, but when I won it opened my eyes to how good it felt. The first win is always special but they are all special in their own ways. The second time it is nice to know that the first was not just a one-off. Then to win in Japan, leading from the front on the final day, was also great. But winning the British Masters was the highlight. It was my first win on home soil and also one of the premier titles on Tour. And, of course, my family were there to see it."

Each of the four wins was immediately preceded by a missed cut. Quirky, maybe, but it made Rose realise that missing a cut did not mean his game was so terribly off and that a bit of patience and continued hard work would pay off. He started a year in which he won over £1m in 159th place in the world rankings but ended it inside the top 40. He will play in all the Majors and the world championships next year. "I believe that I can play at that level now," said the Hampshire-based player, who turned 22 only in July. "I expect to contend now."

Evidence for that came from the calm manner in which he played alongside Tiger Woods for the first two days of The Open at Muirfield. On his debut in a Major in the States, Rose was only a stroke off the lead in the first round of the US PGA and went on to finish 23rd. A week later he was fifth at the NEC World Invitational.

An exercise programme designed by the athletics coach Frank Dick should make Rose physically stronger and more consistent as a player in 2003. As he heads towards the game's summit, he knows he will feel no more pressure than when he was trying to make his first cut. Off the course, he will have to deal with few things worse than the death of his father. Why would he be afraid of winning?