Rose confident ‘magical run’ is permanent

DONGGUAN – England’s Justin Rose said yesterday he was confident his blistering form would become his new standard – and that with better putting, he could have been celebrating his first Major.

Rose, who went straight from last month’s Ryder Cup win to victory in the World Golf Final in Turkey, said improvements – from his putting to his swing to his support team – meant good results should be sustainable.’I feel like my game is in good enough shape that it’s not a magical run I’m on – it’s becoming more of the norm,’ he said before the WGC-HSBC Champions at Dongguan in southern China.’Obviously everybody blows hot and cold and I’m in a nice warm run at the minute, but I think my game is beginning to turn up for me week-in, week-out.’Rose has finished top-10 in four of his last five events on the European Tour, including tied third at the PGA Championship – his best result at a Major.The world number five admitted a crisis of confidence on the greens had prompted him to experiment with a long putter for one round this year, at the Players Championship in May.But after pairing with putting coach David Orr, he has ‘stared down’ key putts at the Tour Championship, Ryder Cup and in Turkey, and now has a chance to beat leader Rory McIlroy to this year’s European merit crown.’I would love to turn the clock back three or four months, go back to about the US Open time and putt then how I’m putting now,’ he said. ‘I could well be sitting here with even bigger tournaments under my belt.He added: ‘It doesn’t always happen in golf but at least I’m putting good strokes on it and giving myself a great chance in the moment when it really counts.’I probably haven’t had a spell in my career where I’ve developed that level of confidence before.’Rose said putting was the major part of a jigsaw that he had pieced together with himself at the centre.’In a sense I’ve become a better CEO of my business – I have good people around me and it’s taken a long time for me to get that in place,’ he said.’I think my mental side has got a lot better in the last year or two… I trust my game now day-in, day-out.’I don’t feel like when I get into pressure situations that I hope my game is going to be there – I know it’s going to be there for me.’ – Nampa-AFP