Justin Rose proved a real point with his 12th career victory on the PGA Tour with his win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind, as the Englishman managed to beat J.J. Spaun in Memphis.
Justin Rose produced a wonderful back nine on Sunday at TPC Southwind to force his way into a playoff with J.J. Spaun at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The 45-year-old birdied four of the final five holes to end up on 16 under par for the tournament.
And if there was any doubt at all about Rose’s place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team, those doubts have surely been put to bed. Rose produced a masterclass in an attritional playoff with the US Open champion to win on the PGA Tour for the first time in more than two years.
In many ways, Rose’s victory has felt like a long time coming. However, it has also been a year with plenty of lows for the veteran.
Surprising statistic emerges following Justin Rose’s win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Rose has five top 10s and six missed cuts on the PGA Tour in 2025. Of course, it was Rose who was beaten in a playoff by Rory McIlroy at The Masters in April. Meanwhile, his hopes of a top 10 at The Open Championship were dented by a couple of shanks in fairly quick succession at Royal Portrush.
But you cannot keep a great player down. And Rose most definitely remains one of the very best.
In fact, he is unique on the PGA Tour this season. It turns out that he is the first player over the age of 40 to win this year. And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard admitted that he could not quite believe how Rose has ended up in a class of his own.
“I thought it was a really good interview. I had never seen Justin Rose emotional very often. He is a very analytical person. He does everything by the books,” he said.
“[Him being emotional afterwards] is really interesting to me and he even shied away from the idea of being 45 years old, because he does not want to make it about age.
“I was stunned when this stat came up though. He is the first player to win this year on the PGA Tour, who was over 40 years old.”
Ryan Lavner replied: “That speaks to where this game is going. They look a whole lot more like Aldrich Potgieter than they do Justin Rose. Guys who bash it, they may be a bit one dimensional with their skill set, but by and large they have a lot of speed, power and distance.
“If they can then get hot with the putter one week or maybe can refine some of their wedge play for a week they can pop up and win a golf tournament.
“Justin Rose I think is going to struggle on a week by week basis on the PGA Tour trying to win shoot out tournaments, where they are 20 under par just because of the nature of his game and the competition.
“But when you do have the stiffest tests, and I would argue TPC Southwind was one of the toughest tests they had, not just because of the fresh greens they had to redo, but they also grew the Bermuda rough so you actually had a penalty for missing the fairway, which by and large you don’t typically see on the PGA Tour.
“So there are certainly going to be tests that are more conducive to Justin Rose’s success than others. TPC Southwind played right into that. Even against the top 69 players of the year. That is the best the PGA Tour had to offer and Justin Rose is the champion and it didn’t look like a fluke.”
The two other players over the age of 40 who won when Justin Rose had his previous PGA Tour victory in 2023
Golf definitely seems to have seen the average age of players at their peak come down over the last couple of decades.
In fact, there were just two other players in their 40s who won during the 2023 season when Rose previously emerged victorious on the PGA Tour – at Pebble Beach.
Lucas Glover won both the Wyndham Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, while Camilo Villegas won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in the Fall.
Indeed, you would have to go to Glover in 30th for the next player after Rose in the FedEx Cup standings who has already celebrated his 40th birthday.
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