Justin Rose: Turkish Airlines Open winner has trusted man on his bag

Two weeks ago it was WGC success in Shanghai thanks to an astonishing comeback from eight strokes behind world number one Dustin Johnson.

Then on Sunday, at the Turkish Airlines Open, Rose won a three-way shootout with Nicolas Colsaerts and South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli.

Yes, it was Rose who hit the shots that yielded three birdies in the last four holes – including the winning 12-foot putt on the final green – but it was the experienced ‘Fooch’ who helped ensure his player was in the right frame of mind to do the job.

Midway through the back nine on Sunday the caddie made a timely intervention as Rose started to push for victory.

“He said, ‘just trust your experience’,” Rose revealed. “He could sense, maybe, I was getting frustrated when I didn’t birdie 13 or 14.

“I think that was his way of saying, just stay with it. You don’t have to birdie every single hole to win. Sometimes you don’t have to do as much as you think you have to do.”

As it turned out, Rose actually needed to put together a grandstand finish and the fact that he duly obliged illustrates the class of golfer the 37-year-old has become.

Winning tournaments is hard, very hard. Doing it in consecutive weeks against strong opposition is the preserve of only the very best players.

“The golf course didn’t know that I won last week,” Rose observed. “So I had to come here and build a whole new fresh body of work.

“The golf course doesn’t know I’m 37 and I’ve been a pro for a bunch of time and the highest-ranked player in the field. The golf course doesn’t care about any of that stuff.”

Everything Rose has achieved has been hard-earned, building a swing and putting stroke to withstand the greatest of pressures.

“It’s been 20 years of hard graft, hard work, and I’ve achieved a lot,” the world number six said after his latest victory.

“I’ve achieved a major championship. I’ve won Olympic gold. I’ve won a lot of other tournaments. I’ve had some great moments.”

They include four Ryder Cup appearances where he boasts a 63% winning percentage and has suffered only one singles loss. This pair of big-money victories have all but ensured a fifth appearance for Europe at Le Golf National next September.