Experience part of Rose's game

There are names that leap immediately to mind when the subject of Augusta comes up – Rory, Bubba, Adam, Phil and Tiger. Perhaps Jus­tin Rose should move onto the first page of Masters Tourna­ment favorites.

Rose has never missed a Masters cut in nine starts and stood on the 17th tee with a chance to win in 2007. The 2013 U.S. Open champion has been the hero of two consecutive Ryder Cups with putting performances that left his American competitors gasping.

As Liam Neeson says in those Taken films, Rose has “a particular set of skills” – long draws off the tee, high irons and deft putting – that should favor him at Augusta National Golf Club.

“I feel comfortable on the golf course, and the golf course suits me,” Rose said. “Not a lot of guys can say that around Augusta. I don’t think I have a particular advantage over anyone, but I don’t think I have a disadvantage. I think the course suits Rory (McIlroy), suits Dustin (Johnson), suits obviously Bub­ba (Watson), suits Adam Scott. There’s a few guys it suits, and I’d like to think I’m one of them.”

At age 34, Rose is in a very different place in his career than he was eight years ago when he was in the Sunday mix late at the 2007 Masters. After birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, an errant drive on No. 17 led to a double bogey that spoiled his chances and left him tied for fifth, three shots behind winner Zach John­son.

That experience, mixed with what he’s learned since, could make for a different outcome in similar circumstances.

“When I was in the hunt in 2007, I remember standing on the 17th tee and Tiger (Woods) hit a great shot stiff on 16 and I birdied 16 and I remember standing there thinking, ‘Wow, this is the greatest feeling ever. I’m in contention in the Masters,’ ” Rose said. “Maybe I was a little green because I should have been a bit more focused on my tee shot on 17, but I was able to enjoy it and appreciate it because it is a special venue and a special place. Experience is one of the things now I can add to my coffers as a strength of mine should I get myself in contention.”

It’s hard to believe Rose has spent 17 years in the golf limelight since he tied for fourth as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 British Open.

His career ever since has been defined by peaks and valleys. But now in his prime, Rose thinks consistency is his most defining feature. He’s won at least once on the PGA Tour in each of the past five seasons.

“At 34, I think one of my strengths is the experience that I have under my belt,” he said. “But there comes a point where you can’t keep chalking things up to experience, it’s time to go ahead and just do it.

“I tried to make that shift when I was 30, I would say between 30 and 40, I said that was going to be the period in my career where I was either going to do it or I wasn’t. So my 30s have been pretty good to me so far, being able to sort of win every year, since turning 30, so hopefully I can continue that trend at least for the next five to 10 years for sure. So I don’t really have a time limit on it.

“I’d like to become more of a prolific winner, winning multiple times in a season. That would be obviously again a step up the ladder. But major championships really are what is going to change things going forward more and more.”

With the buildup to the Masters lasting so long, Rose opted to alter his game plan this year to try to
keep from getting ahead of himself.

“I think that Augusta can loom very large in your head for a long time, because, obviously, it’s eight months between majors,” he said. “I think it’s important to get your confidence going prior to Augusta, which means taking every event very, very seriously. I’ve changed things up a little bit this year, because I’m playing Houston before Augusta. I had two weeks off prior to Augusta last year, and I just felt like it was too long to think about the tournament coming around. I was 6-over through 12 (in the Masters) and kind of felt, well, I’m going to change it up this year.”

With seven top-25 finishes at the Masters, Rose believes he’s more ready than ever to break into the green jacket fraternity.

“My caddie Fooch (Mark Fulcher) thinks it’s a tournament I can certainly win, and I’ve had good experiences at Au­gusta and I’ve had painful experiences at Augusta, which are valuable, too,” Rose said. “I think when you learn that golf course, you learn how to respect it and learn what can happen if you don’t respect it. Those things can play in your favor when you have a chance to win again.”

A putting week like he had in the past two Ryder Cups would go a long way to fulfilling his Masters dreams in his “favorite major to play.”

“If you were to guarantee me a great putting week there, I’d take my chances,” Rose said. “I think putting is the key to Augusta. You can’t win without putting well there. There’s definitely an art to it. It’s visually very different because they’re so quick, the ball breaks so much more. So you’re seeing a very subtle slope and it takes local knowledge. To putt those greens from memory is such a huge advantage.”