There became a point in professional golf where being oneself on the course was no longer seen as ideal. Golfers needed to develop split personalities — those they show outside the ropes in everyday life and those reserved for inside the ropes when the stakes are high and the sun is bright.
Sports psychologists, public relations specialists and a simple dedication to “the process” all serve as efforts to obtain desired results, and while players have certainly improved their games by utilizing those tools, it’s fair to say most of them have become a little less interesting.
Never wanting to get too high in the heat of the battle, many players frequently pocket fist pumps and roars, keeping their passion internal. Never wanting to get too low, players hold back outbursts for bad shots and present precise, polished answers when questioned about the agony of defeat.
Justin Rose is not one of those players.
Rose’s human nature continues to shine through amid fields of golfing robots. No matter the magnitude of the moment or the outcome, the 45-year-old Englishman remains unapologetically the captain of Team Rose. Whether on a carriage ride at Royal Ascot, on the wrong side of things at the Masters or riding down the stretch of TPC Southwind amid a birdie bonanza, Rose has stayed true to himself, and his game has stayed its course.
“I’ve always known I’ve had that,” Rose said. “I get nervous with the best of them. I feel nervous at times. But I know, when it matters, I’ve still got it. I kind of feel better and better and better as it gets more important. That’s good to know. It’s hard stuff to practice, hard stuff to teach. Nice to know that hasn’t left me at this ripe old age.”
The 45-year-old Rose this weekend became the oldest player since Phil Mickelson (2021 PGA Championship) to win on the PGA Tour. He emerged from a three-hole, sudden-death playoff over U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun to capture the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Rose also became the oldest European to win on the PGA Tour in the modern era, the oldest to win this season (the only man in his 40s) and the oldest since Vijay Singh to do so in the playoffs.
But there is nothing old about Rose’s shtick.
Rose cares like hell with no hangups letting everyone around him know about it. He travels with a wellness mobile — into which he has poured significant funds — to ensure his body can stay up to speed with the week-to-week grind of professional golf. He hip thrusts when a putt lips in to let fans know not only that he is engaged but that he may have gotten away with one.
In possession of steely-eyed stares and a tongue that is occasionally let off its leash, Rose is Rose. In a career that has spanned nearly three decades, that is to be celebrated as much as his victories.
The consistency in Rose’s game wanes compared to those at the top of the craft these days, but his upside does not. It’s what keeps Rose coming back for more. And to his credit, he continues to battle despite some major heartbreak occurring both at last year’s Open and this year’s Masters where he fell in a playoff to Rory McIlroy.
“I still feel like there is that golden summer of my career available to me,” Rose said. “That’s what I’ve been pushing for. Moments like getting close at [Royal] Troon and then obviously getting close at Augusta [National], they’re signals that it’s possible. This is another really, really, really important signal that I’m on the right track with my game, and actually maybe even getting a little bit better at the moment.”
A lesser man would have been broken by those results — especially in the back half of one’s career — but Rose encapsulated it best Sunday evening after his victory, even if it was not its intention.
“It’s a strange balance of patience because, obviously, if you try too hard in anything in life, it doesn’t seem to happen,” Rose said. “So, you’ve still got to let it come to you.”
Rose was discussing the way he finished at the St. Jude Championship where he fell three strokes off the lead with five holes to play before making four straight birdies on Nos. 14-17 and giving himself two putts from 13 feet on the 72nd hole and the first playoff hole to secure the trophy. He missed both, but he kept on coming. A birdie on the second playoff hole was enough to match Spaun with one more on the next serving as the tournament-winning putt. Rose played his last eight holes of golf in 6 under.
But Rose might as well have been discussing his career — and golf in general — with that statement. Patience is key, but it is a lot easier to have said patience in your early 20s than your mid-40s. The scales tip with age as opportunities to truly compete in one’s prime dry up.
When you’re 45 with the vast majority of your career behind you, staying patient and letting it “come to you” becomes even more difficult.
The former world No. 1 has done exactly that, though, flexing longevity that is escaping the professional game and self-assuredness that is difficult to navigate no matter one’s age.
Rose isn’t chasing anything — speed, accolades, trophies — he is already a made man with a major championship, an Olympic gold medal and plenty other hardware in hand. He is comfortable only having his best stuff a handful of weeks each season. He is content being the elder statesman on the European Ryder Cup team and shepherding the rookies.
Justin Rose is willing to be Justin Rose, which has allowed him to relax and let these momentous achievements come to him, even as the sun is slowly setting.
“I feel excited about where I’m at at 45, and I feel like there’s a good bit of runway ahead.”
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