Lego scene recreates Rose’s moment

Royal Birkdale is where it all began for Justin Rose.

Now, there’s a Lego scene to prove it.

Rose was a slight 17-year-old golfer wearing a baggy red sweater and a wide smile when he produced one of the British Open’s iconic moments in 1998, holing out from 45 yards for eagle at the 72nd hole to secure a tie for fourth place.

He was the talk of Birkdale that week. Trash-collector staff stopped working to catch a glimpse of the English amateur making a run at the claret jug on home turf.

It was a summer that defined him, and still does in many ways.

One of the first places he sought out when arriving for a practice round at the course last week was that piece of rough to the left of

the fairway on No. 18, where he holed the shot of a lifetime.

Days later, the moment was recreated in a video animation in Lego form and got the attention of Rose’s kids and his 3-year-old nephew, Billy.

“You see them watch it and see them so impressed,” Rose said. “It’s a Lego scene, that’s how you know it was a cool achievement.”

Rose looks back at that moment and that particular British Open — his first — and sees someone playing with “freedom” and the “innocence” of youth. He is trying to use that as a model going forward.

He’s also amazed that it

remains his best finish at his home major.

“It’s disappointing,” he said Tuesday. “Maybe the expectation for a number of years afterwards took its toll coming back, trying to live up to it. I feel now, though, at this stage of my career I’ve sort of somewhat proved that that wasn’t a flash in the pan, so I can come back to the Open a little freer than I could.”