ROSE HAS GAME TO END THIS ENGLISH DROUGHT

1992 champ Sir Nick Faldo backs veteran after 33 years of hurt

- NEIL MCLEMAN

IT IS 33 years of hurt and counting since the last Englishman won The Open.

And 1992 champion Sir Nick Faldo has named Justin Rose as the “obvious choice” to end the curse in windy Northern Ireland this week, while questioning the mental strength of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton.

Faldo lifted the Claret Jug for a third time at Muirfield and also finished runner-up to Greg Norman the following year.

Since then, Ian Poulter (2008), Lee Westwood (2010), Fleetwood (2019), and Justin Rose (2018 and 2024) have finished second. Over the same period, Scot Paul Lawrie triumphed in 1999, while Ulstermen Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy have also won. The English drought will soon be as long as the 77-year wait for a British male singles winner at Wimbledon - and that was ended by Scotsman Andy Murray.

Former world No.1 Rose, who famously made his Open debut as a teenage amateur in 1998, also finished second at the Masters for the third time in April after losing a playoff to McIlroy.