Rose ends four-year PGA Tour title drought with Pebble Beach triumph

By Sports Desk February 06, 2023

Justin Rose ended a four-year PGA Tour title drought with a three-shot victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Monday.

Rose led by two strokes when play was suspended due to darkness at Monterey Peninsula Country Club on Sunday.

The Englishman returned to end a run of 67 PGA Tour events without being crowned champion, carding a six-under 66 to finish on 18 under.

Rose resumed at the 10th hole, securing a par before picking up three birdies through the next four holes to keep his rival at bay.

The 2013 U.S. Open champion added another three pars to finish his round and finally get that winning feeling on the PGA Tour once again.

His previous PGA Tour triumph came at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January 2019.

Brendon Todd and Brandon Wu shared second place on 15 under after signing for final rounds of 65 and 66 respectively. 

Denny McCarthy and Keith Mitchell were a further shot back on a memorable Monday for Rose.

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  • Europe look to extend Ryder Cup lead after keeping faith with foursomes pairs Europe look to extend Ryder Cup lead after keeping faith with foursomes pairs

    Luke Donald unsurprisingly kept faith with his history-making foursomes pairings as Europe looked to extend their lead on day two of the Ryder Cup.

    After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a match in a day’s play for the first time.

    The resulting five-point lead equalled the largest in the contest’s history, a margin most recently achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on day one.

    Donald’s only change was to send Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood out first, against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switched to match four against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

    Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg remained in match two against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, with Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman.

    United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.

    “There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.

    “It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.

    “It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”

  • Europe keep faith with Ryder Cup foursomes pairs Europe keep faith with Ryder Cup foursomes pairs

    Luke Donald unsurprisingly kept faith with his history-making foursomes pairings as Europe looked to extend their lead on day two of the Ryder Cup.

    After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a match in a day’s play for the first time.

    The resulting five-point lead equalled the largest in the contest’s history, a margin most recently achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on day one.

    Donald’s only change was to send Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood out first, against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switched to match four against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

    Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg remained in match two against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, with Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman.

    United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.

    “There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.

    “It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.

    “It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”

  • Ryder Cup day two: Europe aim to build on record-equalling start Ryder Cup day two: Europe aim to build on record-equalling start

    Europe captain Luke Donald insisted his side would not rest on their laurels after claiming a record-equalling five-point lead on the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup.

    After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a single match in a day for the first time.

    “Unbelievable start, historic day, but we want it to be an historic week so the job is certainly not done,” Donald said.

    “We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session. We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

    “We’ll enjoy the last hour [of play] and the celebration, but once I’m back at the hotel we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll be back to business.”

    Donald was well aware that the United States could easily have ended the day just 5-3 behind as they were ahead in three of the fourballs on the closing stretch, only for Jon Rahm to finish eagle, par, eagle and Viktor Hovland to hole from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th.

    Justin Rose then also birdied the last to ensure the five-point advantage and match Europe’s lead at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on the opening day.

    Shot of the day

    His partner Nicolai Hojgaard had driven the green on the short 16th, but Rahm decided to chip in anyway for an eagle to win the hole.

    Statistic of the day

    Top statistician Justin Ray sums up the historic nature of day one.

    Quote of the day

    Brooks Koepka was not happy with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard finished eagle, par, birdie to snatch half a point.

    Key tee times (all BST)

    0635 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

    0650 Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

    0705 Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman

    0720 Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

    Weather forecast

    Saturday and Sunday will feature sunny skies with a few afternoon clouds building up over the mountains along with temperatures near 30 degrees centigrade (85F) each afternoon. No rain is expected through the period.

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