Justin Rose didn’t win The British Open Championship, but not for a lack of a cheering section

TROON, Scotland – Justin Rose was the people’s choice, the poet’s choice, and the storybook ending.

Alas, he did not win The 152nd Open Championship even if you could feel the affection for him, and not just from the brave swimmer in the freezing Firth of Clyde who held up a sign wishing him luck Sunday.

“I’ll tell you the thing I like about Rosie,” said Gary Woodland, who finished T50 at Troon. “In 2008, I joined Lake Nona in Orlando, it was the week before Q-School Final Stage. And he came up out of nowhere and introduced himself to me. He gave me some advice to slow things down, try to play every nine holes under par, since it’s six rounds.

“He said there will be some big names,” Woodland continued, “but since I had played my way to that point, I was playing better than the guys that were falling back. I ended up getting my TOUR card. Ever since then, we’ve been pretty good buddies.”

Rose played more than admirably at Royal Troon Golf Club, coming through the worse side of the draw and keeping it together to go into Sunday just a shot off the lead. He kept it together Sunday, too, but ran out of birdies in a final-round 67. He made one final birdie on 18, tipping his cap to the appreciative crowd, a fitting grace note for a beloved player.

He finished 7 under, two strokes back of winner Xander Schauffele (65). It was a determined performance for Rose, who at 43 has earned more than $75 million in his career but subjected himself to 36 holes of qualifying just to earn his spot in this year’s Open Championship.

“Two emotions: Gutted when I walked off the course and it hit me hard because I was so strong out there today. I kind of got off to the start I wanted. I really played the way I wanted to today. I got off on the front foot,” said Rose, who was trying to become the first Englishman to win The Open since Nick Faldo in ’92 and the first qualifier to hoist the claret jug since Paul Lawrie in ’99. “I played my way right into the tournament early doors. Felt comfortable with it all day. Did a lot of the hard things really well on the golf course today. … In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions today, my mindset, I left it all out there. I'm super proud of how I competed.”

Rose, who turns 44 on July 30, also was vying to become the fourth oldest winner, behind only Tom Morris, Sr. (46), Roberto DeVicenzo (44) and Harry Vardon (44).

The problem Sunday, as it ultimately is for many older players, is Rose couldn’t get anything to fall on the greens. With Schauffele making birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 14 to pull away, Rose was stuck in neutral, watching excellent chances slide by the edge of the cup.

“I ran putts at the hole today,” he said. “I feel like I had opportunities. I felt like I took a lot of them. But I felt super comfortable out there, which the fact that I haven't really been in contention much this year, that gives me a lot of heart.”

Going for broke, he hit driver off the deck for his second shot at the par-5 16th hole, and although he reached the green, he now needed a mistake from Schauffele that never came.

“The hard part is you try too hard,” World Golf Hall of Famer Padraig Harrington, who finished T22 this week, said about the pitfalls of being an older player in contention at a major. “I think he's striking the ball really well. His game has come on – like ball-striking, watching from the outside, looks really as good as it's ever been in his career.”

Rose also is as well-liked as anyone, in large part owing to his magnanimity.

The most recent example is of course the way he all but legally adopted Ryder Cup rookie Robert MacIntyre in Rome last fall, partnering with the newbie and calming his jangled nerves in two Four-ball matches. The unlikely duo was a catalyst for Europe.

But as Woodland’s Q-School example shows, Rose’s influence goes beyond that. His coast-to-coast birdie putt on the 17th hole to upend Phil Mickelson was arguably the single most crucial stroke in Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup “Miracle at Medinah.”

He won the 2013 U.S. Open and the 2016 Olympic gold medal. He reached No. 1 in the world at age 38, the same year he won the FedExCup.

Rose, who famously missed the first 21 cuts of his pro career after finishing T4 as an amateur in the 1998 Open, has been a masterclass on the value of sticking in there until the end. His performance at Troon earned him a spot in this year’s FedExCup Playoffs. He arrived at Royal Troon ranked 76th in the standings, with just two more opportunities after this week to crack the top 70. He is now comfortably inside that threshold.

“I really didn’t know him that well before Rome,” said Sepp Straka, another member of Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup team. “He’s just all class, a great leader, really kind, and a fierce competitor. I remember Friday night when he made that putt and had the huge fist pump to finish the first day off, the emotions came out.

“He’s kind of been there and done that,” Straka continued, “and he’s still working hard on the process, just trying to get better no matter what he’s accomplished.

“That’s the one thing you can really take away from him.”

Added Woodland, who said he was calmed by playing with Rose over the final two rounds of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, which Woodland won, “It’s been impressive to see what he’s been able to do, obviously getting a little older. You know, he won last year, but it’s been a little up and down. For him to go play his way into this tournament and play the way he’s playing out here, you can see how much it means to him.”