How prepares the Majors Justin Rose?

The English golfer reflects with the media about Scottie, Rory, The Masters and the attention of the media

Right. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be joined by former US Open champion and last year’s runner-up at Royal Trune, Justin Rose. Justin, I think last year we all really saw how much the Open means to you, but could you just put that into words for us? Uh, yeah, sure. Oh, I mean, I guess I’ve had a pretty long relationship with the Open Championship, probably obviously Burgdell 98, but I’d say even before that, to be honest, I would say I got to final qualifying as a 14year-old in 1995 for uh for the Open St. Andrews. And kind of from that moment on, I kind of Yeah, I felt like that created a bit of a media stir at the time and kind of got the juices flowing about playing in the Open and what it means to play in the Open. And obviously the the I’ve been dreaming about winning it way before then even. But yeah, as a kid obviously on the putting green since I’ve been playing the game since probably age eight. I’ve been dreaming about winning the open of course. So um yeah but but began it began to feel real from like 1995 and then 1998 obviously was a fairy tale kind of story and ending to my amateur career. And really um the next place from there was to to kind of go ahead and try to win it obviously, but you know I’ve been close a couple times, but yeah um it’s a it’s an incredible tournament like I said as a British player. It’s been the one that I’ve dreamed about winning and hold the putt many times in my mind. Fantastic. Well, we’ll start over here. Thanks. Hey Justin. Um not sure if you heard Scotty Sheffler in here yesterday talking about kind of what fulfills him and whether winning’s kind of actually worth it. um as someone who never stops grinding and and working hard. Um what was your take on that and what what is it that that drives you and and motivates you? Yeah, I mean it was it was a cool take to hear what Scotty was saying and obviously he’s got the rest of his life so well in order and his priorities and obviously his family and faith and all those things. He’s got such those like rocks in place in his life that it’s kind of was cool to see that golf obviously is what he loves to do but doesn’t define him. So I thought that was uh you know it was great to hear quite honestly and yeah for sure I’ve been in that similar situation in terms of you know getting to world number one it’s something you strive and strive and strive and strive for and then you achieve it and you’re like oh okay it’s not necessarily what you imagine it to be but the work and the journey to get there is the thrill that’s the exciting part and I think that’s still to this day what keeps me going is the really just can I be better tomorrow as a person and as a golfer than I am today and that’s enough obviously You want it to manifest into tournament wins and ticking off your goals and your dreams, but really the journey and the process of of of getting there is where you have to try to find the enjoyment. Yeah, Dan, please. I know you like the tennis and uh I was curious if you saw NovakJokovic talking about how in the last year and a half age is it’s really started to hit him and he felt like, you know, he was playing against center best of five back end of two weeks and he just didn’t have a full tank. you’ve had these near misses the last couple years and I’m just wondering what the emotions are like after one of those second place finishes now in your career versus when you might have been 28. Um, yeah. I mean, I think when you’re sort of 28, you kind of have that runway ahead of you where you think, okay, well, you know, clearly I’m proving to myself that I can be there, you know, and you’re still going into the learning mindset of, okay, get a little bit better at this and that, and if I can implement these changes, yeah, I’m going to keep giving myself these great opportunities. Obviously, you know, later in your career, you’re never quite sure how many chances are going to be left and you know, when you do come close, clearly it’s like ah, you know, um, sometimes it hurts a little bit a bit more possibly because yeah, you know that it’s not getting any easier to put it that way and and that’s obviously what Novak’s saying as well. I mean, obviously he’s still capable. He’s still probably believing that he can find angles and ways to to still sort of battle out there and maybe get that 1% in a certain part of his game that might make a difference. And that’s kind of what I believe in terms of what I’m trying to do. I would say overall week in week out, it’s going to be hard to get a ton better and transform my game to suddenly add new dimensions to it where, you know, I can kind of become incredibly dominant over the top young players. But I think in certain situations and in certain um environments, um I can still kind of bring bring my best and when I do do that, yeah, I feel very very competitive. So, but yeah, to your point, I think uh you you kind of want to make the most of these near misses at this stage of the career. In the front here, please. Uh Justin, um you were in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. You were in the Royal Procession. Where does being in the Royal Procession at Royal Ascuit rate in the sort of experiences that you may have achieved off the course? Yeah, I mean that was just a real honor obviously and I’m not exactly entirely sure exactly why it happened or where it came from, but um absolutely one of the the the the most fun and surreal days of my life for sure. always something that you know I’ve witnessed and it’s something that obviously when you’re there at Royal Ascot and the races it sort of kicks off the day’s racing and you’re just incredibly excited to see the royal procession come past and um yeah it’s one of those things that I think uh Britain does so well in terms of like the ceremony of the ceremonial kind of uh you know I guess the pomp and ceremony I suppose is what I’m looking for you know it’s magical in a way but to be on the inside looking out was was surreal and um yeah I think when you come into the parade ring and everyone’s dressed to the nines and uh the sun was shining and the you know Union Jack flags were flying. It was like wow this is a a pretty cool mo pretty cool moment and something I wanted to sort of burn into my retinas for forever more because I’m sure that’s a once in a lifetime. Yeah. Ronan, please. Hi Justin. Uh Rory said if he doesn’t win this week, he’d like to see you win. Um and just going back to the Masters, you obviously had a front row seat to what happened. Maybe not the front row seat that you wanted, but what was it like to see all that emotion pour out of Rory on the 18th green at Augusta? And if you’re going to be beaten by anybody, are you nearly glad it was him? Um, yeah. So, um, obviously I kind of, you know, when uh when the moment happened, obviously when Rory was there over his three-footer to to win and the tap in, I was definitely like, “Oh man, I’ve kind of been here before watching the same story.” obviously, you know, being in a playoff against Sergio. So, there was definitely a little bit of um deja vu to that moment, I suppose, but it was definitely, I think, a little bit different this time around. I felt like I played great on Sunday. I felt like I did a lot of good things. I felt like I chased as hard as I could. I felt like I left it all out there. So, there wasn’t sort of as much of a um there was more pride in the performance, I think. Um but even in 2017, I hit a lot of good shots. You know, it could have gone my way. But, uh yeah, there was a taste of I knew what it would felt like to win. I felt like I can almost imagine what it would be like to have won the Masters. You know, I kind of feel like I have been that close. But yeah, when you when you see all of the outpouring from Rory, you kind of understand how big the moment is and you obviously you wish that for yourself obviously, but like I said at the time, I think it didn’t, you know, it wasn’t lost on me what a huge achievement that was for the game of golf. Obviously, someone achieving the career grand slam. So, you know, absolutely. Uh I was able to still be happy for Rory in that moment and, you know, it had been a long time coming for him. I mean, for how good he is to kind of had a few chances slip by and obviously maybe a decade even, wasn’t it, of chances slip by, it was always going to be a matter of time. I mean, it’s easy for us to say that, but when you’re when you’re the player, you know, you kind of you want to kind of get that done and you want to get it over the line. And obviously, he had a huge opportunity to to get that done. And um yeah, I mean, listen, what what can I say? Um he hit two amazing shots in the playoff. I’d imagine he felt like he had given given it away until that point. he probably felt like he probably shouldn’t have even been a playoff I’d imagine from his point of view. So for him to steady himself and to to put two great swings on it when it mattered most for him. Obviously that’s when you lose to that you can kind of you know walk away with your head held high and you can give your competitor you know a lot of props for that type of um situation. But I think you know also you got to look inward and you got to understand how is there anything I could have done better in the moment. But really I hit two great shots into 18 myself and you know the outcome was what it was. Number two in the back here please. Justin, based on what you’ve learned throughout your career, if you could go back in time, how would you have prepared for major championships differently at the beginning of your career and specifically the Open Championship? Um, well, you know, I think preparation around the majors is something I’ve taken seriously probably for, you know, the best part of, you know, 10 to 15 years now. And I feel like I have done it differently to to a lot of guys. And I have invested the time to preparing for major championships because quite honestly, the last couple days have been very difficult to prepare. Um it’s very busy out there. There’s a lot of crowd, a lot of, you know, people wanting little piece of you autographs and all sorts of stuff. And obviously you’re playing in four balls and there’s just a ton of people inside the ropes and it is chaotic, you know, and I feel like that’s not an environment to really learn the golf course at all. So um I think I started implementing some different strategies around preparation pretty much actually 2013 and before winning at Marion. It kind of worked perfectly for me that particular week. Um, but yeah, I went and spent two or three days ahead of the, you know, the the week prior. So, the course was pretty much in in championship ready, you know, condition, but there was no one there. So, you could have the run of the place, you could spend eight hours doing whatever you wanted to do on the golf course. You could putt to every pin. You could make detailed notes. And I just, yeah, I feel like that’s very difficult to do the week of the championship. And also, it’s incredibly time consuming and energy sapping to to prepare properly. So that is why you know then there’s the whole dilemma of do you want to play the week before do you not want to play the week before so it’s a real balance really to get right and I think um the majors come so quickly in the summer you know once obviously the masters is out of the way I feel like the next three majors kind of feel like they come quite rapid fire so it’s quite hard to find the time to dedicate towards doing that unique practice and preparation so it’s a challenge for sure but um I feel like I have implemented enough it early enough in my career I’ve seen it make a difference. I think I’ve performed relatively well in the majors over the the last decade or so. A lot of that’s down to the preparation time I’ve put in, I believe. So, I don’t really look back and think I could have done anything different. I think, you know, I think having being being a major champion, I credit to preparing well for the majors. Number to three, please. Go back to Rory if you don’t mind. Um what was can you talk talk about him as a as a teammate in the Ryder Cup as a as a rival when you’re going for a major um and and what it might mean although it’s all about your preparations about you winning it what it might mean for him to win it here what might mean for this place and for the game. Yeah I mean listen Rory obviously is a local hero around here and and and rightly so and he has been probably since he shot I think he shot 61 here as a kid didn’t he? So I mean I mean the the the legend around him in these parts has been growing for a long long time. So obviously he’s going to be incredibly well supported this week and um you know I feel like the pressure is off him almost from that point of view this time around as it was to 2019 maybe even um the fact he’s got nothing really more to prove this would just be now like cherries on top of everything. So I feel like probably he’s in a he’s in a good mindset I’d imagine obviously I think I I’ve had a bit of a come down off the back of the masters. I feel like I’m coming back around to having a bit more energy and focus again. I can see maybe the same for him too. Uh so yeah, it’s probably coming at a good time and then clearly we’ve got FedEx Cup playoffs to look forward to and then clearly Ryder Cup is the next big thing on all of our minds. So you know he pours a lot of his energy and his emotion into that as well. He leaves it all on the golf course and he’s a great teammate and you know his standing in the game doesn’t necessarily dominate the team room. although he is a vocal uh figure in the team room, he doesn’t necessarily make that um presence felt to the detriment of the team in any way, shape or form. So yeah, uh give him a lot of credit for being a good teammate. In the front here, please. Justin, you had in your back for a while the the Axis one putter. I believe you were a part of the design. You don’t have it anymore. What what has changed? What are you looking for in the greens now? Uh yeah, so still love the Axis one. still speak closely with the the guys there, the owners, the developers of the of the product, still help them with next generation of product. Um, yeah, I just felt like I needed a a change of look, you know, for me. And that was about a year ago, actually, um, around this time. And, um, I think the slower link screens as well, I just was looking for a little different feel or a different actually a lot of it was around alignment. Um, and just fell back into a part of that I quite enjoyed, you know. So uh but I still like I said I think it’s still for me the the Axis one kind of patent and the design on it is is first class and it brings a you know it offers so much but um yeah um it’s definitely still for me a great option going forward. Four please. Yeah. Hi Justin. Can I just pick up on the what you mentioned about the masters of how long it actually took you to get over it if you have? And has the the positive reaction that the way you and Kate behaved in the aftermath has that sort of helped the the positive feedback you got? Yeah, it’s been a weird one because I don’t really feel like I had to get over it because I didn’t necessarily feel like completely devastated by it either. Do you know what I mean? I felt like I played well. I felt like I could walk away with my head held high. So from that point of view, I didn’t really feel like there was much baggage or much to get over. Um I think what was difficult is having just the micro um moments with everybody you meet for the next couple of months even like oh well play well played well played unlucky unlucky. Oh yeah thank you. Thank you. You know it’s just like everyone wants to talk to you about it. So that that way it’s hard to get past it. Um that’s the only thing I would say that I felt maybe. Um and it’s a subconscious. It’s not even a conscious thing. I think I’m over it. I don’t know. Who knows? Sorry. Has anybody said anything particularly nice or touching or striking to you since? Uh listen, most people have been so kind afterwards and I think to answer your question, I think that has been a big help and obviously I think that I’ve um it’s yeah, I probably picked up a lot more followers and fans because of the Masters and because of maybe what you know, I just felt like I reacted normally afterwards, but for whatever way, shape or form that was perceived, I think people were, you know, thought that that was sort of um it became a fun tournament for people to watch, I Think I think the backline became exciting. It wasn’t a runaway win. It someone made a run. Someone was playing well. There was a bit of drama, a few bad shots, some great shots, and suddenly it culminated in this amazing story. And I think I was just part of that, which was great. And it was great to be a part of that. I think it was probably one of the most exciting majors we’ve had for a long, long time. So, I think just being a part of that story, I think, has made people very excited about the tournament. Um, and uh the feedback of that has been positive, I think, is is all I’m saying, I suppose. But yeah, uh I’m ready to move on for sure because, you know, second was uh it’s second place, isn’t it? It’s um it’s a tough loss, but at the same time, um it’s still more evidence uh that when I get things right, I’m still competitive and can still uh can still bring it. So that’s what I’m encouraged about. And obviously, I got to make sure that those moments like this week and going forward, I can try to to be as focused as I can on the moment. Now, number two, please. Um Justin, when you come to a week like this where you are getting that extra level of attention mentally, do you try to kind of dull it down and play it like any other golf tournament or do you say, you know, I want to really embrace that attention and and pay extra attention to it in your mind? Yeah, it’s a it’s a good question. Um, I think that the last couple of days I’ve really just tried to sort of shrug it all off and I haven’t I don’t feel like I’ve been I feel like a lot of my my preparation I was up here a couple of weeks ago and I’m I’m leaning on that because I feel like I took in a lot of um information and I feel like the last couple of days I’ve just let it sort of like wash over me a little bit. I haven’t been too intense. I feel like I haven’t had the energy to be too intense. There’s been a lot of other stuff going on. So, I think that that’s been my way of kind of handling it these last couple of days, but I I know tomorrow um that that’s all going to change. I’m not even worried how I’ve played these first two. You know, often in practice, if I don’t play well in practice, is really no sign at all of how the week’s going to go whatsoever because tomorrow um you know, the it’s for real. Um the focus completely changes. And I think that’s what I do find difficult about the preparation is everything is so busy, so chaotic, there’s lots of stimulation out there, but there’s zero focus to deal with it. Versus in a tournament, there’s still a lot of stimulation and a lot of uh a lot of things to deal with, but there’s that focus kicks in that helps you navigate kind of um the the the situation and the atmosphere out there. So, I’m kind of almost looking forward to tomorrow. And um I don’t know if you saw Scotty Sheffller’s comments yesterday about fulfillment and winning and um you know, what meaning that brings to you, but could you relate to what he was saying at all? I know you’ve spoken about wanting to get that one, you know, last major one. We Yeah, we I answered a question on that just uh earlier on in the in the press conference and I I very relatable for sure. I think um there’s been moments in my career where you you do you know you summit to the top of the the rankings and you kind of maybe perceive it to be more than it actually is at the time. Um but it’s just I think it’s just a great reminder for what he said that yeah there are clearly other things in life and it’s about having all your big rocks in place and clearly his family faith as my family is in place. You know those are the things that give me the greatest joy. Um and obviously listen we spend a lot of time playing golf. We spend a lot of time focusing. I’ve been dreaming about being a pro golfer since I was probably 5 years old. So I mean it’s a huge part of me and I want to honor that always. But um you know I’m only 45 years old. let’s say halfway through my life. I hope um you know I also hope to be a lot more than a golfer. So um it’s sort of it’s good perspective to to not make it be everything. Yeah. We’ll finish with these three last questions that we have in the room. So Brian Yeah. Yeah. Justin, from your visit here a few weeks ago, um the golf course, what’s the plan of attack? What do you see as the the big challenges? It looks quite difficult off the tea. It seems to be a key to to scoring well around here. Just wondering what your opinion is on on the uh the challenge. Yeah, I think it’s got everything to be honest with you. I think it’s tough enough off the tea where you got to really respect it. Um the bunkers aren’t as penal as a lot of other links golf courses necessarily. Still probably can’t get on the green, but you can maybe advance the ball a little bit further than some other bunkers. But still avoiding the bunkers at all costs really around a Lynx golf course is number one. The rough’s thick, but there’s going to be opportunity out the rough too. You can maybe draw the odd good lie. So it’s kind of got that variability. It’s got that sort of bit of um gives you the opportunity to hit recovery shots as well. I think um we’re going to have different wind directions this week out the south definitely for the first day maybe day and a half and then potentially a little bit of north coming in again. Today was out the north. So yeah, my practice trip was valuable because it was more of a south wind. So hopefully get a bit more of a feel of how tomorrow’s going to going to play for us versus today. And that’s another reason why I was like not massively intent today on exactly how the course is playing because I’m not sure we’re going to get that feel again. Um we’ll see what happens on the weekend. But um yeah, I think but there’s a lot of birdie opportunities on this course as well. It does it does give up some birdies. So I think you need to be positive. You need to go out there. As tough as it is in places, you do have to get on the front foot and maybe there’s certain holes you need to take advantage on. So um yeah, it’s it’s a great mix. Right. Second last question number four. Justin, what are your reflections on your experience at Trun 12 months ago and what impact did that have on on you and your hunger at this stage of your career? Yeah, if I look back at Trune, I think I played um as good a golf as anybody for the whole entire week. Um I think I probably played through some of the tougher conditions that that you know in terms of Saturday afternoon was brutal. I got the worst of it there. You know, we kind of I really felt like I hung in. Um so it was it was good resilience. I felt like I showed that week. I felt like um you know I went out and I shot the second lowest score of the day on Sunday which again if you in one of the last groups obviously I got beaten by Xander who played an amazing round of golf and we were kind of toeto toe right through right through the round until he had a you know he had a golden half an hour where he stretched away and and that was it. But um yeah I felt like again you know when you step up as a competitor you’re like yeah I had I had everything available to me there to to win the tournament. So, um, that does kind of keep you believing, you know what I mean? And, uh, it gives me obviously, you know, a lot of hope coming back into this week and and future opens as well. And last question from John, please. Justin, hi. I hope you live to be 92. Um, in your articulate way, can you please explain to us how important it is to you to be in the RDER Cup team? What it would mean to you to be in the RDER Cup team? And secondly, um, are you able Do you have any head space at all for thinking about not getting into the team or is it just dismissed? Um yeah well I think first and foremost I think the only way to make the team is by having no head space about what happens if you don’t make the team. You know it it has to be all consuming. It is a huge goal. Um I feel like I definitely want to be in that team in New York. New York’s been a well talked about Ryder Cup for I don’t know it feels like almost a decade. I don’t know when it was announced. It feels like a long time ago. We knew we were coming to New York and uh it’s well anticipated and I think it’s going to be one to experience. Um no one quite knows what to expect, what it’s going to feel like other than it’s going to be different. It’s going to be uh it’s going to be an awesome experience. Um one I want to sort of um be a part of in the mix of it, which is, you know, inside the ropes with my golf clubs and uh to be able to be a good teammate um in the best way I can. So yeah, absolutely. Like it’s a huge huge ambition of mine to be to be playing in New York. So, um, it’s going to test every, uh, every ounce of you. And I think that those are the moments that I’m looking for. That’s kind of where I’m finding the the joy. Um, and that’s what I’m chasing at this point in my career is that are the big moments in the sport, you know, whether that’s RDER Cups, major championships. Um, those are the memories I’m trying to make. You know, I feel like I’ve been lucky enough to achieve a lot in the game. And I’d like to have achieved more of the same things, you know, more majors, more wins, more more of everything, but I pretty much achieved everything I could have dreamed about having achieved in the game of golf. So, um, I’m just trying to kind of like really add to to those highlights now, and obviously Ryder Cup offers a huge opportunity to do that.