Justin Rose has been one of Europe’s most consistent performers in the Ryder Cup throughout his career, even playing an important role in 2023’s victory in Rome alongside Robert MacIntyre.
While Justin Rose has perhaps not exactly been the talisman for Europe over the years, it says everything about how much his captains have been able to rely on him that his return of 1.5 points from three matches at Marco Simone was the worst return of his Ryder Cup career.
Rose has been involved in some incredible moments. Of course, few will forget the duel with Phil Mickelson at Medinah which proved pivotal. Meanwhile, he formed such a fantastic partnership with Henrik Stenson between 2014 and 2018.
But there has also been some disappointment along the way. Rose was not picked for the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, with Colin Montgomerie instead opting for Edoardo Molinari, Luke Donald and Pádraig Harrington.
Justin Rose explains how he found out about not making the 2010 Ryder Cup team
The decision was ultimately vindicated, with Europe narrowly winning in Wales. However, Rose was understandably not happy with how he and a number of players learned their fate.
As he told the Life on Tour podcast back in 2018, Rose was preparing for his final round at The Barclays on the PGA Tour when Montgomerie informed him that he would not be picking him.
“That honestly was a farce, yeah. Monty was supposed to have called the night before or something and didn’t. I think to be honest, Edoardo Molinari threw a big spanner in the works there, winning in Scotland. And I think it probably made Monty’s job really, really difficult,” he said.
“I was one or two shots behind the lead going into the final round, I was starting the round with the same score as Matt Kuchar, who went on to win the tournament. But that caused havoc with, not just me, but Paul Casey and Luke Donald.
“Paul was top 10 in the world, didn’t get the call. He’d won Memorial, I was playing really, really, really good golf too. And I think Paul was playing with Harrington and Harrington got the nod, and Paul’s looking over and looking at [Harrington’s wife] Caroline, and there’s nothing coming back.
“Luke was out in seven under or something on that Sunday. Got the call, heard he was in halfway through his round, came back in six over.
“I remember the camera burning me during my warm up because they’re waiting for me to go into my bag and get my phone out. The camera’s on me, and it’s not a great way to prepare for a round when you’ve got this added intensity. I literally got the call 15 minutes before teeing off.”
How Colin Montgomerie’s three captain’s picks fared at the 2010 Ryder Cup
The 2010 Ryder Cup was particularly unique as the weather wreaked complete havoc, forcing play into the Monday for the first time ever. It also meant that two of the sessions involved six matches, with all 12 players out on the course.
So all of Montgomerie’s plans would have had to have been thrown out of the window. But the changes clearly benefitted Europe, with a 5.5-0.5 win in the penultimate session of the event.
A fightback on Monday brought the Americans to the brink of a Brookline-like comeback. However, Graeme McDowell managed to beat Hunter Mahan to secure the decisive point.
And Montgomerie’s captain’s picks earned 6 points between them, with no-one winning more points than Donald.
But clearly, much of the disappointment for Rose concerned how exactly he found out about the decision that he would be left out.
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