ROSE IMPROVED GAME UNDER FOLEY
ARDMORE, PA. During a victory celebration that extended long into Sunday night at Merion Golf Club in this suburb of Philadelphia, Justin Rose humbly and sincerely acknowledged those who helped him win the U.S. Open.
Two men stood out: his late father, Ken, and his swing coach, Sean Foley.
Rose, who went to No. 3 in the official golf rankings with his win at historic and fabled Merion, where he held off Phil Mickelson and Jason Day by two shots to earn his first major championship on Father’s Day, no less, talked of the importance the two’s life — and swing — lessons were and are.
Rose, who as a teen missed the cut in his first 21 professional tournaments, blew kisses to the heavens after holing out on the 18th in a nod to his father. An hour or so later, he extended kudos to Foley, the oft-criticized coach he hooked up with in 2009 who also works with Hunter Mahan and world No. 1 Tiger Woods.
Foley’s methods have come under intense criticism. But, like Woods, Foley concedes success to the player and just points to the record — Woods has four wins this year, Mahan lost in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play final and was in the mix late into the U.S. Open and Rose is now holding the championship hardware.
The criticism has been relentless at times — which Foley, by the way, deflects with ease — so much so that Rose, even while holding the U.S. Open trophy, was asked if the victory was affirmation of Foley’s instruction.
“I feel like my golf game has gotten better and better every year. I’ve picked up distance, and I’m hitting the ball straighter. And for me to come into a U.S. Open and feel like this is one of my legitimate chances to win a major is a testament to my ball striking. So I got to give a lot of credit to Sean,” said Rose, 32. “I would say it’s more than just a player-coach relationship. I regard him as a true friend, and I regard him as someone who, if I ever had a question upon golf or upon life, he would be very much at the top of my list.
“He’s a very mentally, I think, a very interesting character and very strong mentally. And he passes that on as well.”
Foley sent a text to Rose before the final round. It had nothing to do with the X’s and O’s of the swing or where the putter face should be at impact.
“He said something along the lines of just go out there and be the man that your dad taught you to be and be the man that your kids can look up to, sort of be a role model,” Rose said.
When reached by USA TODAY Sports on Monday, Foley talked about how proud he was of Rose and the work he’s put in on and off the golf course.
He said he was impressed with Rose during the two’s first extended encounter in 2009 — as a man and as a player. Foley knew Rose had major championship DNA. Confidence and work on his short game would lead him to prove that, Foley said. He did Sunday and could again.
“What happened (Sunday), when you get on the golf course and you’re maybe not sure of yourself and then you go out there and get it done in a major championship … that is huge,” Foley said. “He was 1 under his last seven holes.
“Now something has changed inside of him that you can’t teach, that you can’t read about. He wakes up today knowing that in the face of pressure, when his heart is ready to explode through his rib cage, he can perform at the highest level.
“People go back to the starts of his career, the 21 missed cuts. But if we look at adversity in the right light, it provides a foundation for growth.
“He had his dad around, his mom around, and he was just too good, too skilled to be held back forever. There was a lot of life left.”
Rose’s celebrations will be short: He is in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship, and he plans to stand by his commitment.
“(Rose’s wife Kate) called last night at about 9:30, and I looked down at the phone and said, ‘ This is either going to be a really good call or a really bad call,’ ” tournament director Nathan Grube told the Associated Press on Monday.
“It was fine. She said, ‘We’re coming, we’re just trying to rearrange our schedule a little bit because of all the media (commitments).’ ”