Putting may be a thorny issue for Justin Rose but there’s reason to think he can bloom at Sawgrass
I have always regarded Justin Rose as a great putter so I can understand why he was so disappointed to slip from the top of the leaderboard and finish third at the Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday.
Rose played beautifully all week at Quail Hollow and shared the lead with four to play but squandered two short putts at successive holes and missed out on contesting the play-off by a single shot.
The Englishman ranked just 66th of the 78 players who made the cut for strokes gained: putting – how well you’re putting compared to the field average – and it could be down to his recent change to a claw grip.
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Adjusting to a new grip can be difficult because you do not know how it will stand up under pressure. On top of that, greens are faster than ever now, so putting has become an even more delicate art.
Golf can be an incredibly frustrating game when you play as well as Rose did but end up holing nothing. It’s far more disappointing that way than when you play badly.
But I think that over the next few days Rose will probably reflect that he is playing well and can look forward to greens that he is more familiar with at The Players Championship this week.
A Wonderful Story at Wells Fargo
As it was, the Wells Fargo Championship threw up a wonderful story in the form of James Hahn’s win, which followed eight consecutive missed cuts in his previous tournaments.
That run is reminiscent of the early days of Rose’s professional career, when he missed 21 cuts in a row before going on to fulfil the promise of his amateur days and become a Major winner.
Hahn, who beat fellow American Roberto Castro at the first play-off hole, must have been in tatters after three-putting the last. But he held his nerve and now joins 46 of the top 50 in heading to The Players.
Once again Rory McIlroy left a dozen shots out there but still scraped into a tie for fourth. He seems very buoyant, happy with his game, and confident as he heads to Sawgrass.
The Unofficial Fifth Major
The Players Championship fully deserves its billing as the unofficial fifth Major and typically provides such exciting finishes, none more so than last year, when Rickie Fowler won in extraordinary fashion.
Fowler had a bad final day at Quail Hollow, losing his overnight lead to tie with McIlroy on seven under par, but – like Rory and Rose – will relish returning to The Players.
I’d love to see McIlroy win this week, it feels like he’s been building up to it, and it’ll also be interesting to see how Danny Willett fares in his first outing since winning the Masters.
South Korea's Own Willett Effect
That result seemed to inspire other English players to greater feats in the following weeks and South Korea seems to be enjoying its own version of the Willett Effect at the moment.
Jeunghun Wang won his maiden European Tour title at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco on Sunday, a fortnight after friend and countryman Soomin Lee did likewise at the Shenzhen International. It’s fantastic for them.
Willett is among those also set to play the BMW PGA Championship at the end of the month, and I got a preview of what lies in wait for him on a recent visit to Wentworth.
The course is looking fantastic, the stands are going up and if stays like this the weather will be perfect. I can’t wait.