Englishman Justin Rose has entered the Olympus of Grand Slam champions by winning the US Open, the second Grand Slam of the season, at the Ardmore course in Pennsylvania. Rose became the first Englishman to win this major since Tony Jacklin in 1970, in a final full of tension after the leader of the first three rounds, American Phil Mickelson, failed to make a birdie that would have taken him to a playoff with the European.
The Englishman, born 32 years ago in Johannesburg (South Africa), had started the day two strokes behind Mickelson, but with three birdies and two bogeys in the first nine holes he overtook the golden left-hander.
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño managed to get into the top positions and finished tenth, in what was his second participation in this Grand Slam tournament.
This is the first major in the career of Rose, who finished the final round with a card of 70 strokes (par for the course), and ended up taking the trophy with a 1 + par after the four rounds.
The Englishman rescued the ball from the hole, squeezed it tightly in his hand, very tight, while his head to the sky visualized with his eyes closed the image of his recently deceased father. Tears streamed down his face on Father’s Day in the United States. In his heart and at the same time, the joy was immense.
Rose made her debut at the age of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament, the British Open. After that, her courtship has lasted another 16 long years. Rose has spent half her life looking to lift a trophy of the so-called ‘big ones’.
The U.S. Open continues to be the major championship that Mickelson is denied, as he finished second for the sixth time in his career. This time he shared that spot with Australia’s Jason Day.
Phil had everything to be crowned on this occasion, however, a +3 in the final round left him with no chance to be crowned.
Tiger Woods had a weekend to forget, finishing tied for 32nd with a terrible +13 in the championship.
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