Justin Rose

DUBLIN, Ohio -- In golf terms, he is still very young, months away from his 30th birthday, a global golfer whose future should be filled with the kind of trophy presentations he was part of on Sunday.

But Justin Rose has seemingly been around forever, despite what his birth certificate says.

His first victory on the PGA Tour at the Memorial Tournament did not come without its share of angst and agony, and serves as a cautionary reminder to those who were left in his wake at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Much of the chatter this week was about the slew of youngsters who seemingly found themselves in contention.

More than a handful of 20-somethings had a chance to hoist the Memorial trophy and get a pat on the back from tournament founder and legend Jack Nicklaus. Rose's three-shot victory over Rickie Fowler -- who is 21 and for a time looked like a sure thing to win -- made it 10 wins for the under-30 set this year on the PGA Tour.

Justin Rose became the first Memorial winner from the British Isles in tournament history.
Rose quipped that he was glad to make it into the category just in time, his 30th birthday looming.

"I have always been described as a young gun, but now I'm certainly not," said Rose, a pro for 12 years who came from four shots back Sunday and shot a 6-under-par 66. "Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, these guys are the true young guys out here. I think golf's in great hands, with more than those two, but with those two especially."

Rose, of course, knows first hand just how difficult it is to live with expectations and turn them into something more than disappointment.

He shocked the golf world when he contended at the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale, the one where Mark O'Meara won in a playoff and where a 22-year old named Tiger Woods finished a shot back.

Rose was a 17-year-old amateur, a British lad who wowed the locals when he holed a pitch shot on the final hole for a birdie that gave him a fourth-place finish. Awash in adulation, Rose turned pro within days to embark on the pay-for-play game -- only to miss 22 consecutive cuts.

Yep, that's right: Rose turned pro and didn't cash a check for nearly a season's worth of tournaments, finally making a cut at the Austrian Open in June of 1999, where he finished fourth.

"Quite honestly, I think the Open Championship, finishing fourth there skewed things for me in terms of my expectations and certainly everybody else's expectations.

"What I tried to do at the time is say, Justin, forget the Open ever happened. You had a great amateur career. You can obviously play the game. Now if you couple that with hard work, surely things have to pay off."

There have been four European Tour victories since, (along with two other international victories) a European Order of Merit (money title) capped by a win at the 2007 Volvo Masters, and a career best No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking that year.

And yet he had dropped to 66th in the world heading into the Memorial, which is fine except for the fact that his countrymen have been making such a name for themselves. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Luke Donald all reside in the top 10.

"I think I'm very much a forgotten man right now in English golf," Rose said. "Another reason why I'm here today is I haven't let it bother me, either. I've played for myself. ... not worry about what other people think, not worry about what other people's opinions are of me and just really focus on the game and love the game. When you get into that mindset, everything else does tend to disappear.