Justin Rose releases himself from Carnoustie shackles to renew his love for the Open

The curse has been lifted. Not for English golf, which remains without  an Open winner since Nick Faldo in 1992, but for Justin Rose, a man  who for so long has been dogged by consistent disappointment at  British golf’s showpiece event. 

For 20 years, Rose’s best memory of the Open has been his performance  at Royal Birkdale as a teenage amateur, when he famously chipped in at  the 18th to finish fourth. Was that as good as is it would ever get?  It would surely have been a thought that crossed his mind during the  opening two days here, when he was so far down the leaderboard that he  would have needed binoculars to see the top. 

But then a desperate 18th-hole birdie, late on Friday night, kept Rose  in the competition for the weekend and released him from his  self-imposed shackles. Ever since, he has made a mockery of  Carnoustie’s ‘nasty’ moniker, climbing up the ladder with speed,  purpose and no little skill. 

A third-round 64 on Saturday equalled the Open record for Carnoustie  before a fourth-round 69, delivered despite the wind, propelled him  all the way into second place. 

“It just proves to me that I can play well in this tournament, that I  can win the Open” said Rose, revelling at last in victory over his  17-year-old self. “When I am in the hunt, I enjoy it. I play my best  golf, I don’t back away.  “It was great to get the crowd behind me. Like I said, I had not felt  the energy of the crowd for a while in the Open. That was a real  positive, and it renewed the love of the Open for me.” 

There was no greater indication of Rose’s quality here, despite that  agonisingly slow start, than his performances on the much-feared 18th. 

Rose deconstructed the supposed scariest hole in Open history with  such insouciance, shooting birdies there on all four of his rounds,  that he may have even damaged its mystique forever. 

Is it now his favourite Open hole? “After birdieing all four days, it  has to be right up there for me now,” he said. “I feel like I birdied  it in different ways, which makes it special.” 

Rose was even the clubhouse leader, for a short while. As the rest of  the leading pack surrendered shot after shot, he remained steady. 

There was just a solitary bogey, at the fifth, before a stunning eagle  on the 14th put him into genuine contention for what would have been  the most unlikely of triumphs. If only he had not stumbled so  carelessly in the tournament’s opening rounds, he could have won this  by a distance. 

Where the Englishmen finished

“The leaders started to wobble a little bit towards the end of the  front nine, and that is when I knew there was an opportunity,” he  said. “I started to play great golf. Making the eagle at 14 was the  little boost I needed.” 

The Rose revival here has only confirmed his status as England’s  premier player, despite an extended challenge from Tommy Fleetwood and  a flickering threat from Eddie Pepperell, playing the golf of his life  despite suffering from a hangover. 

Fleetwood slipped out of the mix by surrendering four shots over three  holes on the front nine. The 27-year-old had stepped into Rose’s shoes  as England’s great hope after carding a six-under 65 on Friday, but  this three-hole meltdown was enough to sabotage any hopes of winning  his first major title. He had also pulled out a double-bogey on the  12th hole of his third round. 

“I don’t want to be a bit of a baby about it, but I am obviously  disappointed,” Fleetwood said. "It just wasn’t my time. I felt like I  did so many things right, but just the last couple of days there were  two double-bogeys that you can’t have. The putts just did not really  drop for the weekend like they did on the first two days. That was it.  I could have done things better this weekend. But it was a pleasure to  play up there with a chance in the last few groups, and to have the  atmosphere. I have to wait a year for another chance, but hopefully I  can improve before then.” 

There was less sorrow for Danny Willett, for whom a 24th-placed finish  represents remarkable improvement after two years of anguish since his  shock Masters victory in 2016. Willett was two over on the final day,  but there can be no denying he is on the way back. 

“The game is definitely on a path that is a lot better than where it  was,” Willett said. “It is nice to come off disappointed, in 24th  position in a major. A year ago that would have been a really nice  finish. It just says that the state of where we are at is a lot  better.” 

There was also a dramatic loss of momentum for Chris Wood, who made  four bogeys on the back nine to finish at three over. Further down the  leaderboard, Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton tied for 51st-place, and  Tom Lewis tied for 47th in his first Open since he was the best-placed  amateur in 2011.