The Method Man Rose

Justin Rose’s Mid-career Ascent Can Be Chalked Up To Many Things, Even A Touch Of Luck. But Discipline And Modernsuccess—and A Masters Run.

- Michael Bamberger

It’s a sun-drenched Tuesday morning, two days before the start of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and Justin Rose, tall and polite English golf professional, is on the driving range of a nearby five-star resort, testing clubs and noting flight patterns. Ten people are watching, all, to varying degrees, members of Rose’s team.

His swing coach, his mental coach, his fill-in caddie. One of his chiropractors. Three executives from his new club manufacturer, Honma. A Honma club designer from Japan. A product manager. A specs guy.

Rose’s morning work is a clinic, close to perfection. In five days, he will win the old San Diego event. But this long club-test Tuesday ends at a second driving range, at Torrey Pines.

With the sun getting low, and out of the corner of his eye, Rose spots the product manager and specs guy from the morning session. They’re walking across an adjacent parking lot and away, so Rose sees only their backs. He runs after them, catches up and says:

“Thanks for all you did today.”

Is it the best grillroom story ever? No. But it has the benefit of being true, and being emblematic of the man at its center.