Rose smells sweet in first victory in 4 years
Englishman, at age 42, has final-round 66
Justin Rose, golf's eminent globetrotter, has balanced his career between pro tours for more than 20 years.
PEBBLE BEACH >> Justin Rose, golf's eminent globetrotter, has balanced his career between pro tours for more than 20 years. He statistically underscored his whirlwind preferences Monday.
Rose, 42, a two-shot leader after Sunday's partial fourth round, birdied three of his first four holes en route to winning the weather-dominated AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by three shots.
The South African native with British citizenship, claimed his 11th PGA Tour title with a final round 66 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Rose's 18-under 269 total out paced Brendon Todd, who finished with a 65, and Brandon Wu, who carded a 66.
Rose, victorious on six pro tours and on six continents, also has 11 European Tour (now the DP World Tour) victories among his 25 professional titles. He also won the gold medal in Brazil when golf debuted in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“Just a ton of little, small factors,” said Rose, referencing improvements to get his first win in four seasons. “I've
been kind of not super happy with my equipment. I made a change out of the blue this week. New irons, new shafts.
“That seemed to make things a little bit easier. Certainly on like the threequarter shots into greens which you needed this week to try to take a bit of spin off the ball.”
After four days of fickle weather that include overcast skies, rain, hail, gusting winds and sunshine, the latter prevailed for the partial weekday finale.
It was the second Monday finish in four years. Phil Mickelson needed two holes on a Monday in 2019 to defeat Paul Casey for his record-tying fifth AT&T win.
“I caught a nice break in terms of when they blew the horn playing Monterey Peninsula with some more favorable conditions yesterday morning,” said Rose, who had his 12th career hole-in-one on the 15th hole (his sixth of the day) in the second round. “There's been a lot going this week.”
Todd, a three-time PGA Tour winner, last won on the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic on a Monday finish. It's a scenario he likes.
“I felt really good this morning,” said Todd. “So there's something nice about knowing when you start your final round that you might not finish it. So you play as hard as you can until the siren goes off. You get to go sleep, re-warm up, make the adjustments you need and come out firing.”
Rose, whose last pro title was the 2019 Farmer's Insurance Open, played the final nine holes Monday. He led by at least one shot throughout Monday's play.
The PGA Tour suspended play Saturday's third round because of gusting winds, specifically at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Sunday's fourth round was called at 5:32 p.m. because of darkness.
The starting pro field of 156 was reduced to 65 and ties (75 advanced) for the final round, with a 1-under cut. The pros played the final round without the tradition of the pro-am participants.
“One thing I have realized is obviously I haven't been playing enough great golf,” said Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open titlist and twotime Masters runner-up. “But when I do play half decent I do give myself chances to win. It was nice today to tee off with a lead.”
Denny McCarthy, who had only three holes to play Monday, birdied the 18th for a 64. He joined Taylor Pendrith, who finished his round Sunday for the final round's low score. McCarthy finished tied at 14 under with Keith Mitchell (68) and Peter Malnati (69).
Matt Fitzpatrick, No. 10 in the world and among only three players in the top 20 in the field, missed the cut. Viktor Hovland (No. 11), who won the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach in 2018 and was the low amateur at the U.S. Open the following year, finished with a 71 and tied at 10 under with Ben Martin.
Tom Hoge, who won his first PGA Tour title at the AT&T last year, finished with a 70 and was grouped among seven players at 3 under.