Rose wins wire-to-wire outside of Chicago
LEMONT, Ill. – Justin Rose came to Cog Hill Golf and Country Club with no expectations. He left a winner with a very real chance to win the PGA Tour playoffs and pocket an extra $10 million net Sunday. What a difference a day makes!Rose won by two over Australian John Senden and was three better than another Aussie, Geoff Ogilvy.
Rose chipped in for birdie at the 17th to take a two-stroke advantage to the last. He sealed the deal and won in wire-to wire fashion by parring the last, just missing his birdie chance. The win was the third of his career on this side of the Atlantic and also moved him to third in the playoff standings.
“Sure, three is a great number on both accounts” Rose said of his latest accomplishments. “To win my third tournament feels like I'm sort of moving in the right direction, and to move to three on the FedExCup list and give myself control of my own destiny next week in Atlanta is something I didn't foresee at the beginning part of the week, so just an amazing outcome this week.
“I played some amazing golf at times, and today was just I guess a pretty gritty kind of round” he added. “It was a tough day, and there were ebbs and flows in that round. Sort of slightly shaky start, couldn't quite get the speed of the greens with the dew on them and then started playing really, really well and then wobbled a little bit but managed to get it done, and it was an amazing feeling making two great swings at the last and being able to enjoy the walk up there.”
Senden came up a couple of strokes short, but made the Tour Championship by making a big move at this event for the second time in the last three years.
“I knew that I had to shoot something pretty good to catch Justin,” Senden, who had closed the gap between he and Rose to one through 16 holes. “He was obviously in control playing very, very well.
“You know, in regards to my round, I was quite consistent. I really struck the ball well today. I've been putting well all week, and sometimes that's the difference between finishing high and finishing in the middle of the pack is when you putt well. So those good saves, those putts inside ten feet, my shots, like scrambling, and also inside 100 yards is important to me. So that's the difference this week, and that's how I felt like I did a good job.”
Ogilvy started the week having just barely made it into the field of 70, coming in at 69. But, he accomplished a couple of things that were certainly consolations to not getting the win. He made it to next week’s final event with his finish and also locked up his spot on the International team for the Presidents’ Cup in his native Australia.
“It's nice,” Ogilvy said. “I mean, you come here with the hopes of playing well enough to do that. I mean, but I guess the reality is that you've got a long way to go from 69 to get to the Tour Championship, so it's nice to play well enough. Not a lot of fun to play in the rain, but I guess in the end it's the right kind of day to just chip away and make some pars and you're going to do quite well, and if you make some birdies you're going to move up quite a bit. All in all, quite satisfied, really.
“And the fact that we go to Royal Melbourne in Australia this year (for the Cup), we'll have the crowd on our side, it's my hometown -- not actually my home golf course but a golf course I grew up right next door and played quite a lot of times, it's going to be pretty special.”
Return to Latest News archives