Philadelphia: Watching Star Wars on YouTube and a picture of a tunnel given to him by his wife Kate have emerged as the secrets behind Justin Rose’s victory at the US Open.
The Englishman was due to appear on one of America’s main chat-shows last night, where he would inevitably be quizzed as to how he stayed so composed in the final holes as he became England’s first US Open winner in 43 years. Aptly enough, considering those four blank decades, The Empire Strikes Back played a key role.
Gio Valiante, the famed sports psychiatrist, used a scene from the film to inspire his client. Before he departed his Orlando home for Philadelphia, Rose was pointed towards YouTube to watch and rewatch Yoda’s discussion with Luke Skywalker in which the old Jedi master offers some motivational advice to his young protégé. “I wanted Justin to know he was ready,” Valiante said.
“That he was finally mature enough to come into his own.” Rose did not leave the mind tricks there. As he basked in the adulation of becoming his country’s first major champion since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996, he revealed how he relied on tunnel vision to see off Phil Mickelson. A chance discovery of a picture of a tunnel that his wife, Kate, bought him five years ago provided him with the perfect image.
Rose took a picture of it on his mobile phone and texted it to his caddie, Mark Fulcher, saying: “Look at this tunnel closely — this is where we’re going to live for the week of the US Open.”
Fulcher yesterday explained how they would call up the picture to remind them of the gameplan: “It meant simply staying in the middle of the tunnel,” said the Englishman, who also won majors with Laura Davies and Alison Nicholas.
“If you move out of it, only bad things can happen because you are thinking about other things. I said I’d follow him and walk behind him.”
For Rose, the strategy helped him to shrug off the bogeys which were inevitable on a course as tough as Merion.
“We had a very narrow framework of thoughts,” Rose said. “We had just four thoughts as part of the process — what’s the appropriate shot, execute it, accept it, move on. That takes a lot of discipline to think that way, to act that way, for 72 straight holes. And we managed to do it.”
Rose was yesterday counting the rewards of his success. Insiders estimate that the new world No 3 will net at least £5 million (Dh27.98 million) on the back of his breakthrough — although, in all probability, his earnings will shoot up by a lot more than that. The near £1 million cheque he received for winning at Merion is just the start of it.
The 32-year-old has the right to call himself a major champion after his Philadelphia breakthrough and very soon will have the finances to match the stature as well. The bonuses in his sponsorship contracts — including TaylorMade, Ashforth, Zurich and British Airways — will run to at least £1 million, while his management will also immediately be able to add noughts to his appearance fees.
“This puts him in the superstar league in golf,” his agent, Marcus Day, said. “It’s the final piece of the jigsaw. He’s the perfect age, is right up there with the best players and financially it will be a big bonus. Everyone knows it can increase their wealth, but it comes down to how much they want to do that and whether they want to chase it. But he’s in it to win majors, so for him the money is just a nice bonus.”
For Rose, the preparations for the Open at Muirfield next month begin almost immediately. on Monday, he was playing golf at a sponsors’ day at a course approximately 30 miles (48km) from Merion and from there was heading to New York City to appear on the national network alongside the US Open Trophy.
His fame is set to explode in line with his finances, but Rose is determined to stay grounded. He will honour a commitment to play in the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Connecticut this week and following that PGA Tour event will see whether his energy levels are sufficiently high to play at next week’s AT&T Championship at Congressional.
Rose intends to take a fortnight off before Muirfield and emulate his preparations for Merion. Rose played the classic layout a few times the previous week and went back with a clear idea of how to tackle the course. “I love it when a plan comes together,” Rose said.
