It has been ten years since Justin Rose last lifted the Race to Dubai title after a stunning play-off win against Ernie Els at Valderrama and the Englishman hoping history will repeat itself once again.
The 2013 US Open winner was 27 at the time and now over a decade on in his illustrious career, he finds himself in a similar position as he attempts to chase down Tommy Fleetwood’s commanding lead at the top of the Race to Dubai standings.
With 250,000 points separating Rose from the summit of the rankings, the 37-year-old needs a top six finish to have any hope of sealing a second Order of Merit title.
Speaking ahead of the DP World Tour Championship, Rose said; “I think mathematically, Valderrama in 2007, I could have maybe finished second or third, but went ahead and won the tournament. It’s probably something fairly similar this week.”
“But at the end of the day, for me it’s about – to win The Race to Dubai, I have to contend in this tournament one way or another. I need to finish towards the top end of the leaderboard, and if you’re going to finish at the top end of the leaderboard, you may as well focus on trying to win the tournament,” he added.
“The objective is quite simple and quite clear from that point of view. But like I said, it’s Wednesday; it’s too early to think about winning. Thursday is too early to think about winning. Friday is too early to think about winning.”
It’s been a stellar end to the season for Rose since his defeat in the Masters play-off to Sergio Garcia – with back-to-back wins in China and Turkey – and has risen to sixth in the global rankings.
The Birkendale native and his swing coach Sean Foley have done plenty of work over the summer as they looked to rectify some minor putting issues that curtailed his game earlier in the season.
“There’s been a lot of work in a lot of areas of my game, but putting, absolutely. Putting is often what translates from decent golf into winning,” said Rose.
The 2013 US Open winner last won the Race to Dubai title ten years back.
“If I look back at China and Turkey, I would say I putted really well. Putted very solidly from inside six feet. Didn’t give away too many cheap shots there, and then making more 20-footers.”
“I think I focus now a lot more on the skill of putting rather than the technique of putting. By that, I mean green reading, and then just sort of doing performance drills on the putting green, rather than constant stroke work. So I think that my putting feels a lot more simple in my head.”
In theory, there are three players in the running to win the Race to Dubai title, despite Sergio Garcia previously saying he has only a two per cent chance of being crowned champion.
The Spaniard would have to win in Dubai and Fleetwood and Rose to finish among the back markers – something that looks unlikely with their recent strong run of form.
Still, Rose believes fortunes fall in Fleetwood’s favour as both men are set to duel for the European No1 spot.
“I still take Tommy’s chances. You know, I think that any time you have — there’s no givens in golf. Like I said, his lead is significant. It means I’ve got to play well,” said Rose.
“All I wanted to come in here thinking was that if I win, I didn’t want to be too far behind Tommy; that if he finished second, I still couldn’t win. So in some ways controlling my destiny from that point of view is important to me.”
“I think I can just focus on playing good golf and get to the top of the leaderboard. That’s as simple as I’m trying to keep it this week.”
