SOUTHPORT, England — The passage of time for golfers often is marked by the return to venues where they made memories. For Justin Rose, Royal Birkdale is just that, as this is his fourth visit to compete in an Open Championship, the first coming 28 years ago as a teenage amateur whose 72nd hole chip-in to finish in a tie for fourth.
Can it really be 28 years?
“Obviously, 1998 does feel like a long, long, long time ago,” Rose said on Tuesday when meeting with the media ahead of the 154th Open Championship. “I feel like there's different iterations or editions of me as a golfer since then, so different spells of my career that I kind of chunk into probably five-, 10-year chunks. There's been quite a few of those moments that have gone under the bridge since '98, good and bad.”
David Cannon
The fact the soon-to-be 46-year-old is still here—playing in his 24th Open, with four top-fives and two runners-up finishes to his credit—is a testament to his talent. But also to good fortune and perseverance. “Twenty-eight years later I'm playing in the Open Championship. I think, if I think about that, that is still that's an amazing achievement. Just to kind of have the will to keep wanting to be here, I think, more than anything.”