Justin Rose says how Tiger Woods changed during the final round at the BMW Championship in 2007 which taught him a real lesson

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Justin Rose is perhaps one of the players who probably feels that he would have won a little more had he not spent the majority of his career in the same era as Tiger Woods.

Justin Rose has been one of Europe’s best and most reliable players for the best part of two decades, with the high point coming when he won the 2013 US Open at Merion. Meanwhile, he won the Olympic gold medal back in 2016.

He also finished as a runner-up to Tiger Woods at both the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational. But it was another of Woods’ wins which really stuck with the Englishman.

Rose went into the final round of the 2007 BMW Championship with an outside chance of victory, while Woods – who was paired with Rose – was one shot off the lead held by Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker.

The great lesson Tiger Woods gave Justin Rose at the BMW Championship

Woods would indeed go on to win after producing a stunning final round of 63 – the lowest score of the entire week from any player. And speaking on Skratch, Rose explained how eye-opening it was to watch the way Woods’ demeanour changed as the day went on.

“Not much fun, but awesome at the same time. I want to say it was the BMW Championship, it was at Cog Hill, it was about 2007 I want to say, something like that. We’re in the third or fourth last group, we are obviously in with a shout to win the tournament, we’re in and around the lead, but we’re in that nice, comfortable back position,” he said.

“So we tee off, we’re chit-chatting, we’re having a good time, we’re talking about the Bahamas, and this, that and the other. And I’m like, ‘oh my god, this is great, Tiger Woods is my best friend’. I’m three under through six, he’s four under through six. We’re like, ‘this is great’.

“And we make the turn and suddenly, it was like goodbye. And it was the greatest lesson I’ve ever had because he did everything so much slower, he locked in, his eyes just went. Obviously, his routine was good, but he walked slower. He just absolutely lasered in and put together a great back nine and won the tournament.

“The intensity of the early part of the round probably suited him too. Relaxed, free, get off to a good start. Because sometimes that deep intensity from hole one doesn’t serve you well either.”

How Woods shone during the 2007 PGA Tour season

You can definitely understand why that experience was so impactful on Rose. He was beginning the first purple patch of his career, as he won the Order or Merit on the European Tour that year, with his Ryder Cup debut coming in 2008.

Meanwhile, Woods had another phenomenal year in 2007, as he won seven times. The BMW Championship was victory number six of the year. He would go on to win the Tour Championship by eight shots the following week.

Major number 13 had also recently come at the PGA Championship. And clearly, having that extra gear he could easily switch to was a key reason why so many struggled to keep up with Woods during that era.