Rose's maiden tour win proves patience pays

Until yesterday Justin Rose was known for two things. The first was his spectacular performance as a 17-year-old amateur in the Open at Royal Birkdale in 1998 when he finished fourth and pitched in at the last to thunderous applause, stealing the limelight from the champion, Mark O'Meara. The second was missing his first 22 cuts as a professional.

It was as publicly humiliating a beginning to a pro career as anyone has ever endured. The answer to the question: "Whatever happened to Justin Rose?" was that he went away and learned his trade, with patience, determination and perseverance. After three visits to the Qualifying School he established himself on the European Tour by finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit last year.

Rose won his maiden tour title yesterday at the Dunhill Championship and the breakthrough came, in the city of his birth, Johannesburg. Lee Westwood won his first title aged 23, Colin Montgomerie not until he was 26; Rose is still only 21.

"I've always believed deep down I have the talent," Rose said. "But my family's support really helped me through all those missed cuts. I never lost belief. I knew it would come right and it has."

Rose scored a final-round of 65 for a 20-under-par total to win by two strokes from the US Open champion Retief Goosen, Martin Maritz and Mark Foster, the Englishman who won the Challenge Tour last season.

Among those trailing in Rose's wake was Ernie Els, who finished five strokes behind despite sharing the lead on the back-nine before a double bogey at the 14th. Rose, who began the day four behind the third-round leader Maritz, played the front nine in five-under to take the lead briefly before dropping his only shot of the day at the 10th. After a log-jam developed at the top of the leaderboard, Rose decisively broke away by birdieing three of the last four holes to erase the memory of losing by a stroke to Adam Scott at the same venue a year ago.

"This is definitely a second home for me and I love coming back," he said. "I had lots of family out there and I'd like to dedicate this win to them because they supported me no end this week.

"I spoke to mum on the phone and she was in tears. My dad's not so well and he is the guy I owe most to. He has put a lot of time and hours into my game so this win is for him more than anybody."

Ken Rose never left his son's side during the lean years. It was with bitter irony that just as Justin began to feel comfortable with his game, so his father was diagnosed with leukemia.

"I wanted my first win to be the one which stops people just remembering me for Birkdale," Rose admitted "But, in a way, I feel all those missed cuts I had prepared me for this moment. I did feel under a lot of pressure to make my first cut. It felt like trying to win a tournament every week. So coming down the stretch now, all those experiences helped me to pull through.

"There were a couple of key shots where I was brave and pulled the trigger. My five-iron at the 15th [to four feet] was one of the best I've ever hit, but I think the bunker shot on the 16th was the key one. It was a 35-yard bunker shot up a ridge, no green to work with behind the hole. That was the one which will stick in my memory."

DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP (Johannesburg) Leading final-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 268 J Rose 71 66 66 65. 270 R Goosen (SA) 68 67 70 65; M Foster 69 67 65 69; M Maritz (SA) 72 64 63 71. 271 A Wall 68 67 71 65; M Mouland 68 69 67 67; P McGinley 66 71 66 68. 272 S Grewal 70 64 68 70. 273 E Els (SA) 68 72 63 70. 274 A McLean (SA) 71 70 69 64; R Wessels (SA) 68 66 69 71. 275 M Pilkington 68 68 73 66; J Donaldson 67 72 68 68; A Atwal (Ind) 72 64 70 69; Andrew Coltart 68 69 69 69.