Justin Rose, 29, played like a veteran by shooting a 66 Sunday to win the Memorial for his first PGA Tour win.
His par putt safely in the hole and an insurmountable lead in hand, Justin Rose let his emotions loose as he won the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio on Sunday.
• Full leaderboardDUBLIN, Ohio -- All 20-somethings are not the same.
Rickie Fowler, 21, dressed cap to cleat in orange while chasing his first PGA Tour title at the Memorial, was playing in the NCAA championships in Toledo a year ago. He had one of his former college coaches caddying for him in his 24th PGA Tour event Sunday.
Justin Rose, 29, in a staid black top with a wife and 15-month-old son waiting by the 18th green for Fowler, had as many PGA Tour wins as Fowler entering Sunday -- zero. But he'd won six other major tournaments around the world, finished in the top-10 28 times in 161 PGA Tour events and had burst onto the golf scene with a fourth-place tie at the 1998 British Open -- when Fowler was 9.
So yes, a 20-something won the Memorial on Sunday. But because it was Rose, who stormed from four shots off the lead with a shrewd 6-under 66 to pull clear by three shots, and not Fowler, who kept his head in it but shot a 1-over 73, the story couldn't be more different.
"I hear a lot of times, one of the 20-somethings to win on the PGA Tour. I'm really glad that I made that category just in time," said Rose, who turns 30 in July. "I have always been described as young and a young gun and this and that, but I'm now getting to the point where I'm certainly not."
Rose finished 18-under for the tournament, shooting the best round of the day, one of only seven rounds in the 60s after there were 20 such rounds Saturday. Fowler finished 15-under, with Bo Van Pelt and Ricky Barnes tying for third at 12-under.
Phil Mickelson shot 69 to finish in a tie for fifth at 11-under, while defending champion Tiger Woods tied for 19th at 6-under after a 72.
As Rose pumped his fist in victory and his caddy, Mark Fulcher, high-fived another caddie so hard he hurt his hand, the outpouring of emotion was relief as much as anything.
Rose is old enough to have this win feel like ... finally.
Rose expressed confidence Saturday about his positioning with the youth on the leaderboard above him, and he played his best Sunday because he'd experienced enough final rounds when a tournament was there for the taking and he didn't rise to the occasion.
"He used 12 years of experience, of up-and-down experience, to his advantage," Fulcher said. "His time has come. He was trying to work on the mental side of the game, and he got a return for his money. He can sit back and realize the effort is worth it."
Rickie Fowler had a bright outlook (and wardrobe) when he began Sunday with a three-shot lead, but the 21-year-old struggled with his accuracy all day in finishing three shots behind Justin Rose.Fowler's effort was there, too, but not the execution. Rose started four shots back but shot a 4-under 32 on the front nine to cut into the lead, and when Fowler bogeyed No. 10 and hit into the water on the par-3 12th on the way to double bogey, Rose took control.
"Rickie was the consummate professional," Fowler's caddie Donnie Darr, the Ohio State golf coach and his former assistant coach at Oklahoma State, said. "He was really aware and he did the right things. The bottom line is Justin won it, and sometimes that just happens."
Barnes, 29, entered the round tied for second, three shots behind Fowler and one ahead of Rose. He's closer to Fowler in experience though, after struggling to earn his tour card for several years. After a near-record 62 on Saturday, he shot a 73 that was ruined by two double bogeys and tied for third.
"I don't think people realize that enough; but the more times you get in it, the more relaxed you get," Barnes said. "I'm getting close."
Rose already knew close, with six career second-play finishes on the PGA Tour and nine thirds. Now he knows winning against one of the best fields on tour.
"I really tried hard to not distinguish a huge difference between winning in Europe and wining in America," Rose said. "I think winning is winning, and you get a great buzz and get the same feeling.
"I have won tournaments. So in my mind, at least, I was trying not to put a huge barrier in front of me to say, 'winning over here is so much different than winning over in Europe.' Now with the monkey off my back, there is a difference, of course.
"To win a PGA Tour event, I think you certainly need to have 100 percent control of your emotions."
The older you get, the more times you've been there, the easier that is to do.