sport news Justin Rose is ready to contend at Augusta after putting 'lost' years behind him trends now
It is not just the azaleas that will be puffed up and bright at Augusta this week. There is also a Rose that is feeling rather good about life.
That Justin Rose will be in Georgia at all is down to a few key events in the past couple of years or so, bookmarked firstly by his decision to snub LIV in 2021 and then the vindication a couple of months ago when he won his first PGA Tour title in four years.
The latter is what earned him his place in this field, but it would not have been possible had he succumbed to the strong temptations of an offer to join Greg Norman’s merry band, believed to be worth north of £40million. That would have meant joining the ranks of the ostracised, and as a golfer who was already falling fast through the rankings, how would he have found a way back to the majors?
But that was then. He rejected LIV, he won the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in February, and the changes he made in between mean that he has arrived at the Masters ranked No 31 in the world.
It still feels on the low side just four years after he was No 1, seven on from his Olympic gold medal and a decade removed from winning the US Open. And yet it is necessary to remember Rose fell as low as 84 earlier this year, which would have kept him from competing here.
Justin Rose won on the PGA Tour for the first time in four years in February and is raring to go
The Englishman has returned after 'lost' years and is ready for an assault on a Green Jacket
Rose is currently ranked No 31 in the world and will be looking to assert his quality at Augusta
‘There have been times when I was a bit lost,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘To win again after all that time was really, really special. It has been so important for me, because this is a hard game. A fickle game.
‘I’ve said before, you can fall into a trap of being No 1 and not correctly re-setting your goals and before long it gets difficult, which it did for me.
‘Your situation can change quickly. Once you make a few bad decisions you need to make five or six good decisions to get back. It is hard to build momentum with a few different things in order to get results. It took a bit of a reinvention and what I can say is I am very happy to be where I am.’
That is to say he is back at Augusta,
