Justin Rose Determined to Change Open Record and Succeed Faldo as English Winner

ST ANDREWS, Fife—Those in charge of the initial tee times at the Open Championship rarely make their decisions without an underlying reason, although the rationale might not always be obvious to the casual fan.

When it was revealed that Sir Nick Faldo will tee off alongside Justin Rose (and Rickie Fowler) at 2:45 p.m. BST on Thursday, however, it was not too hard to see the thought process. Faldo, a six-time major champion and three-time Open champion, is the retiring titan of English golf, while Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open winner, is one of the few Englishmen since to follow him and become a major winner.

Faldo was the last Englishman to win the Open, in 1992, so by pairing him with Rose, organisers are throwing down the gauntlet to the 34-year-old. English golf needs another champion: Can you be the man?

“It’s a huge honour to play with him,” Rose said of Faldo on Tuesday. “He’s the role model. He's the benchmark for all British players, in the Open Championship and beyond.”

The pairing guarantees a certain spotlight on Rose, who enters this week having won once already in 2015 and finished second twice (including at the Masters). The winner at Augusta that week (and then the U.S. Open a few months later), Jordan Spieth arrives as the favourite for victory but, with defending champion and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy sidelined through injury, beyond the Texan, there is a whole raft of players that it would be little real surprise to see lift the Claret Jug on Sunday—Rose among them.

“Maybe there’s as many as 20 guys you might say really have a chance,” as Faldo noted on Monday. “In my time, maybe [it was] half that.”

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Due to McIlroy’s accident with football earlier this month, Rose is also the highest-ranked British golfer in town, and thus, empirically speaking, the biggest home hope of victory. Thanks to the Northern Irishman’s win at Royal Liverpool last year, the clamour for a homegrown winner is not quite as intense as in years past, but nevertheless the fact it is now 23 years since Faldo's third and final Open win has created a certain impatience.

Since Faldo's second Muirfield success, English golfers have remained a regular presence in the upper echelons of world rankings, but performances in the oldest major of them all have not matched that pedigree.

“It should be the other way around if you look at it,” Rose acknowledged of the recent drought. “We’ve definitely had some strong contenders and world No. 1s. Hopefully it’s about to turn.”

Rose could say the same about his individual record in the oldest tournament of them all. Since finishing in a tie for fourth in the 1998 Open as a 17-year-old amateur, Rose acknowledges that his form in his home major has not lived up to expectation (he has not recorded a top-10 finish since). Part of that he ascribes to bad luck with the draw—getting the worst of the weather on the opening two days more than once in recent years—an issue he hopes to avoid this time around.

The Old Course is a place he says has good vibes for him, having won the prestigious St Andrews Trophy as an amateur and finished second in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the end of 2007. He narrowly missed the cut when the Open was last here in 2010, but he says he fortunately does not hold onto such memories for long.

“I forget most of the things that happen in my golf game, which is probably why I survived missing 21 cuts (at the start of his professional career),” he said. “I should probably remember more of the good stuff, but I clearly don’t. I’m in the moment.”

He believes he has a good understanding of the particular nuances of the course and says playing in last week’s Scottish Open has sharpened his general links game—even if that week ended with him breaking a wedge over his knee in frustration.

“The more you go around, you do get to know those little nuances,” he said. “I don’t feel like there’s anything I don’t know about the golf course, or anything I need to work out.”

Of his Scottish Open experience, he added: “I didn’t play well, but I learned a lot. ... I learned how to play again in a very heavy wind. If there’s some wind [this week] and I save one shot, then it’s worth it.”

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Faldo, factoring in the many changes that have been made to the layout since he won 25 years ago, believes it is going to be a second-shot golf course this week, with course management of overriding importance.

“You’ve got to plot the shots, you’ve got to understand the wind direction, where you’re going to land it, where it’s going to release,” he said. “All sorts of things.”

Then, it will be putting it well on the cavernous greens. Keeping within a postcode of the flagstick with approach shots will be vital: “If you are in a 20- to 30-foot circle this week as much as possible … that’s the real key.”

Rose agrees, calling that range “the make zone” and making it a particular focus of his in the build-up. “You want to make a couple of those to really kick-start your momentum. ... Most of the putts are relatively straight, so [it’s about] putting a good stroke on it.”

That sort of assessment taps into the unspoken fear among many traditionalists this week that the course is about to be torn apart, a fear only heightened when Tiger Woods said he was “shocked” at how soft the course was after his first practice round (an assertion he reiterated on Tuesday). The three most recent winning scores in Fife have been 16 under par, -14 and -19, whereas the tournament’s average winning score elsewhere in that time (an average bolstered significantly by two low-scoring years at Royal Liverpool) is a shade under -7.

The Royal and Ancient have lengthened a couple of holes since 2010, but there is not a whole lot of room left for expansion now. Other defences must be employed. “If it goes really calm here, you’ve got to set the hole locations up really difficult, otherwise guys would birdie everything,” Faldo, who reached -18 when he won here, noted.

The early forecast is that the wind will blow this week, but Rose should be prepared whatever the test. Many of his biggest tournament wins have come in testing conditions—least of all the U.S. Open, where his winning score was +1—but he has also shown the ability to win at easier tour stops as well, with his most recent win, April’s Zurich Classic, seeing him finish at -22.

The 34-year-old acknowledges that the weather remains the Old Course’s greatest weapon but does not believe it is as defenseless as some might suggest.

“This course definitely knows how to hold its own and still show its teeth,” he said. “There’s been some low winning totals around here, but very rarely does anyone go crazy.

“The guys setting the pin are going to do a good job of trying to get the best player to win. Whoever wins this week is going to have to hit quality shots.”

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Faldo famously once thanked the media “from the heart of my bottom,” but as his golf swing begins to stiffen, his wit is perhaps starting to sharpen. This might not be the last Open of his career, but it probably will be his last at the Home of Golf. “I've got a sit-down job like you guys for the last 10 years,” he told the media by way of explanation. “It has its effects on your body.”

That means a date with the famous Swilken Bridge before the week is out, for a farewell photograph that will see him join a line started by the who’s who of golfing royalty. Considering Faldo’s recent track record, most expect that moment to come after Friday’s second round.

“Hopefully we don’t have the ceremonial picture [then],” Rose said. “Hopefully Nick played great and he’s playing on the weekend. But if that’s not the case, then it would be great to be part of one of those iconic photographs.”

It will be a farewell to a legend. Rose, however, is not planning to be distracted by the fanfare afforded his playing partner. For him, the focus is on ensuring the celebration comes two days later. 

“Nick in his heyday was very focused, and he won’t be expecting me or Rickie to be anything but that ourselves,” he said. “I think it’s quite easy [to block out distractions] if you think about yourself as a contender. There’s a lot to focus on.” 

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.