Justin Rose believes he is ready to capture a second Major at this week’s US Open Championship following his brilliant performance in the Masters Tournament.
Rose’s 14 under par total at Augusta National has only been bettered six times in the history of the Masters, but unfortunately one of those was by American Jordan Spieth in his record-breaking victory.
However, the manner of the performance has given Rose renewed confidence that he can soon add to the US Open title he won at Merion in 2013, starting this week at Chambers Bay.
“I feel like I’ve kicked on from winning my first Major, when sometimes it’s difficult to live up to that,” the World Number Five said.
“I feel like I’ve maintained my World Ranking position, I’ve won tournaments, I’ve done all the right things.
“So I feel like the progression is really going nicely. I’m 34 now, and I think from 30 to 40 I always felt was going to be the time where I was going to have to step up and win a Major, so to get that done relatively early in that time frame has been great.
“Let’s call it six years, that’s 24 Majors that are going to come around. I feel like if I just keep doing what I’m doing, that’s going to throw up quite a few opportunities.
“They’re hard to win, and sometimes this game, it can elude you pretty easily. I feel like the performance I put in in Augusta would have won many of those championships, but I just got beaten by a better player on the week.
“I’m doing all the right things, it’s just a matter of everything lining up again in one week.”
A course created from a disused quarry will provide a far different test than that posed by a tight, tree-lined venue such as Merion, but Rose believes the same approach will still be required this week.
“At Merion, my mind-set was to try to stick as close to par as possible,” said Rose, who won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after the Masters and lost a play-off for the Memorial Tournament a fortnight ago.
“There was talk earlier in the week about ten or 12 under par being the winning score, and I never bought into that. I kind of just stayed with my mind-set of being patient and trying to churn out the pars and take your birdies when you can find them. I think that’s going to be very similar this week.
“I don’t expect scoring to be extremely low, from what I’ve seen. I think there are going to be birdie opportunities, it’s just about staying away from the big numbers.
“When I won the US Open, I think I didn’t make a double bogey the whole week. If you can do things like that and not give away cheap shots, that’s going to help come the end of the week.”
Rose’s victory at Merion is one of four in the last five years from European players, with Ryder Cup team-mates Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer all tasting success in the year’s second Major Championship.
