Defending St Jude champ Justin Rose, 46, still pushing to stay ‘elite’
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England’s Justin Rose arrives at the FedEx Cup play-off opener as the defending champion after defeating J.J. Spaun in a play-off in 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Nobody on the PGA Tour has been particularly surprised that Justin Rose has continued to win golf tournaments well into his 40s.
The Englishman arrives at the FedEx Cup play-off opener, the FedEx St Jude Championship, as the defending champion after defeating J.J. Spaun in a play-off in 2025.
Rose, now 46, followed that win last summer with his second victory at the Farmers Insurance Open since 2019, a seven-stroke runaway at the famed Torrey Pines.
“Obviously been around a long time, had a great career. I’m not really interested in sticking around and just making up the numbers and waiting for the Champions Tour or whatever that might be,” he said.
“For me, it’s about just really pushing myself to stay elite, to stay playing at the top end of the game, and to kind of keep giving myself and putting myself in with experiences that will create lifetime memories,” he added.
“That’s only going to happen by playing in the biggest tournaments and at the highest level. That’s my motivation, and if I’m not achieving that, I would sort of really question why I’m making the sacrifice away from family and friends and all the other great things that I have going on in my life.”
He went on to say that he is enjoying the challenge of disproving the notion that pro golfers should be fading at his age. Of Rose’s 13 wins on the PGA Tour, six have come in the past 10 years.
He has been around long enough to know how to prepare for a tournament, and several years of playing at Memphis’ TPC Southwind in August have taught him just how hot and humid the area can be. Rose said he might bring an umbrella on the course to shield himself from the sun, not a common sight on the PGA Tour.
“It’s not just, ‘OK, I’m now on the golf course; let’s drink a lot of water.’ It’s just being ahead of things this week,” he said.
“I’m considering using a parasol, umbrella. It’s like 20 degrees (7 deg C) cooler under the umbrella. I think, especially as the week cranks up towards 100 degrees (38 deg C) on the weekend, that might be something I will do, which is something I haven’t done before, to be honest with you, but I used it in the practice round today, and it definitely made a difference.”
Rose enters the FedEx Cup play-offs 24th in the points standings. Only the top 50 after this week will advance to the second play-off leg, the BMW Championship, and from there, the top 30 will qualify for the Tour Championship.
Rose racked up his points not only by winning the Farmers Insurance Open but also with a T3 finish at the Masters and T10 at the PGA Championship, two weeks in which he was in contention to become one of the oldest Major winners in golf history.
“Obviously, the Masters – I played great golf there. That’s the one that I look back (on) and feel like that one got away,” he said.
“I’m kind of waiting to sort of really catch fire again. I played some good, solid golf, but I’m kind of waiting for a run. Hopefully the three weeks off that we’ve just had are a bit of a refresher now, and I can really focus on this last, final push.” REUTERS
