Justin Rose will be 47 when the Ryder Cup in Adare Manor rolls around next year and he believes he can still be playing well enough to not only make the European team but play a key role in Luke Donald’s hat trick bid.
Rose’s Ryder Cup career looked like it had come to an end when he was left out of Pádraig Harrington’s team for 2021 but he has bounced back remarkably and been one of Europe’s strongest players in the 2023 and 2025 victories. His longevity is reflected in that he was part of the famous away victories in Medinah and Bethpage Black.
Had things worked out differently, the Englishman may well have been fronting a pre-Open press conference as the 2027 Ryder Cup captain, but to his own credit he still remains a very likely contender for an eighth playing role.
“My attitude to Ryder Cup is if I’m playing well enough, then you want to be on the team. Do you know what I mean?” said the 2013 US Open champion. “Pushing to make the team, making it a flat-out goal to make the team is not my primary objective. My primary objective is for the team to win, and I feel like if I’m playing well enough to earn points, then I want to be on the team.
“It’s all about for me to be in a spot where I can contribute to the team. Making the team is never my objective; it’s winning points for the team. That’s the only thing I think about when it gets close to being Ryder Cup time. Am I getting my game to the point where I can go and win points for the team.
“I feel like if that’s the case, then I’ll be on the team. So I don’t push to make the team; I push to be playing well enough to contribute to the team.”
Rose returns for his 23rd Open Championship appearance at the site of his very first and still his most famous moment in the Claret Jug event. Holing out from the rough for birdie on the 72nd to claim the silver medal and bow out of his amateur career with a fourth place finish.
Since then Rose has won everything in the game. He is a major champion, an olympic champion, a former world number one, a European order of merit and FedEx Cup winner as well as a Ryder Cup legend. Quite the feat for someone whose professional career began with 21 missed cuts in a row.
Probably the frustration for Rose is that, yes he has achieved everything there is in the game, but only the once. In his admirable career there are two playoff defeats at the Masters, two runner-up finishes at The Open and a third place at the PGA Championship. Had the chips gone in his favour he might be a multiple major winner or who knows, maybe a grand slam winner.
Still, if he had the chips at his disposal he would stick rather than twist on his 28-year career so far.
“Would I want to do it again and think I could do better? I think I’d probably pass. I’d probably say I’ll let the chips — I’ll stay. I’ll stick,” said the world number ten.
“Could I have done more? Could I have won more of what I’ve already won? Yes. Would I love to be a multiple major champion? Yes. Do I feel I could have pushed towards close to a grand slam? Yes. I’ve had results that nearly put me in that realm. So a little bit of luck here and there, I could be sitting here with a very different career.
“But ultimately, if I look at it, I got to world No. 1. I’m a major champion, Olympic gold medalist, FedExCup. I’ve kind of achieved pretty much what there is to achieve in the game, albeit once only. But the highlights are great. Would I have just wanted more of it? Of course. Everyone’s greedy.”
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