Justin Rose spoke of his pride and love of the host course after winning the US Open Championship at Merion.
It was the Englishman's first Major Championship as he shot a 70 in his fourth round to finish one over par, two shots clear of Phil Mickelson and Jason Day in Ardmore.
“I fell in love with it last week when I came here,” he said. “I came here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, almost two weeks ago now. I saw the place without anybody out here.
“I think that was a big part of my week, to fall in love with a girl named Merion, I just didn't know her last name.”
Rose revealed how a text message from Adam Scott, who won the US Masters, boosted his morale after he begin to doubt whether he would win a Major.
"Well there's no doubt I hadn't really given
myself
many great chances," he added.
"I took a lot of encouragement from Adam Scott. He sent me a fantastic text after the Masters, he said 'your time is coming soon', he is a wise man."
And heading into the last, the scene of a famous moment in golfing history when Ben Hogan hit a one iron onto the green before winning the tournament, was firmly in Rose's mind.
"I saw my ball in the fairway I thought 'this is my moment', you know I have seen that Ben Hogan photograph a million times and suddenly it was me hitting
middle
of the fairway.
"I just tried not to get
to
ahead of myself. I hit a beautiful four iron into the green.
"I'm just so glad it all worked out.
"Philadelphia has been my town, I had such good support here all week."
Rose had tears in his eyes as he tapped in for par at the last, before pointing to the skies in memory of his late father Ken.
“
The
look up to the heavens was absolutely for my dad,” he continued. “Father's Day was not lost on me today. You don't have opportunities to really dedicate a win to someone you love.
“Today was about him and being Father's Day. I got a beautiful text that said go out and be the man your dad taught you to be and be the man that your kids can be proud and look up to. That's how I tried to carry myself out there; my dad was the inspiration the whole day.
“I was trying to keep it together, obviously, because I didn't want to be premature - Phil had two holes to play - but that was my time, the clouds had parted, it was kind of ironic. It was just a beautiful evening, and the way it worked out, I felt like I needed to do that.”
