Luke Donald will have been delighted by Justin Rose’s opening round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the Englishman opening up with a 64 at TPC Southwind.
Justin Rose is well placed to book his ticket to the Ryder Cup in September, with the 2013 US Open champion currently eighth in the qualification standings.
Along with Rory McIlroy and perhaps Sergio Garcia, Rose is one of the only players in contention to make the European team with experience of winning the Ryder Cup on American soil, having been in the lineup which pulled off the Miracle at Medinah in 2012.
What will certainly help Rose’s cause is an impressive run in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Justin Rose shares what bugged him heading into the FedEx Cup playoffs
Rose began this week 25th in the standings. And after posting a six under par opening round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the 45-year-old has one foot in the BMW Championship next week.
But it is the Tour Championship which Rose has his sights set on. Remarkably, The Masters runner-up has not been to East Lake since 2019.
And speaking after his opening round in Memphis, he admitted that he is not at all happy with how long it has been since he last featured in the Tour Championship.
“Definitely. I pride myself on that for sure,” he said, when asked about his longevity.
“I think it’s bugged me a little bit that I haven’t been back to East Lake in a few years, so that’s definitely a goal of mine. We all know how important top 50 is. Top 30 is a little bit of a cherry on top of everything. That would be a big goal for me.
“Obviously if you play well in these tournaments then you can start to think about obviously the bonuses that are in place the next couple weeks, but East Lake is a great golf course for me, so if I get there, I feel like I have a great chance there.”
How Justin Rose’s greatest Tour Championship moment was somewhat overshadowed by Tiger Woods
Of course, one of the biggest moments of Rose’s career came in Atlanta seven years ago as he won the FedEx Cup.
He had won the event now known as the Charles Schwab Challenge that year, while he finished second at The Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Rose’s achievement across the season was slightly overshadowed as the crowds flocked to watch Tiger Woods win the Tour Championship in a sign of what was to come ahead of the 2019 Masters.
Rose is well placed to ensure that he makes his long-awaited return to East Lake this month. Should he manage it, his place at Bethpage will also be all but wrapped up.
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