Justin Rose is a 40-year-old professional golfer from England. He was ranked number one in the world as recently as three years ago. He has ten PGA tour wins to his name and one Major Championship at the 2013 US Open, narrowly beating Jason Day and Phil Mickelson for the win. Where is Rose today? He currently sits atop of the leaderboard in the greatest golf tournament in the world: The Masters.
The Green Jacket
The Masters is like no other golf tournament. Augusta National, where the tournament is played, is the most exclusive golf course on the planet. Some people try their whole lives just to get a chance to go and watch the event. Nobody gets to golf it without knowing somebody.
This all adds to the aura of the event. The winner of the Masters is given a green jacket and is allowed to play in the event for the rest of their life if they wish. Rose wants that jacket, but so do the 87 other golfers that teed off on Thursday (April 8).
Day One and Two
Rose teed off at 12:48 PM on Thursday and started off with a bogey. Five pars in a row were then followed by another bogey. That all shifted when he drained an eagle on number eight and a birdie on nine to leave the front nine at -1. He was invincible from that point forward. Rose knocked home six birdies out of nine holes on the back to walk away from day one the leader at -7. Day one doesn’t mean anything for day two.
Much like day one, Rose started off his round with a bogey on the first hole. He did not feel as invincible as the day before. He proceeded to bogey three more holes on his way to number eight. His unbelievable day yesterday was going to be overshadowed by a collapse in the second round. Rose decided right then and there he was no longer going to worry about the scoreboard.
A Shift in Thinking
“I had a little talk with myself on eight” Rose explains, “and said you’re still leading at the Masters and started to play match play against the golf course.” Match play is a type of scoring where the goal is to win more holes than your opponent. The focus goes from the big picture to what is right in front of you. “I scratched a line on my scorecard and told myself I was three down and I could go ahead and beat the golf course from that point on.”
Sometimes it is tough when an athlete or team gets out to an early lead in sports. It can be hard quiet that voice in our head telling us, “shoot I have a huge lead, better not blow this.” It can spiral quickly, and that early performance is forgotten. Rose clung onto a much better frame of mind. He explains, “I told myself going up to the eighth hole, ‘You’re leading at the Masters. Your frame of reference is a little bit different… You’re still leading so just enjoy it and keep going.”
Rose finished off his round with three birdies and eight pars to land him at even on the day. Pretty incredible considering the panic that could have set in early. He has two more big days of golf to cap off a Masters victory and the pressure is only going to get more intense. Only five players have ever led the tournament start to finish. If Rose can keep this composure up, he has a chance to be the sixth.
