A Rose(y) win --- finally

Rose earned a smaller but worthwhile victory Tuesday during a practice round for the Travelers Championship, hitting an 85-yard shot to the 40-foot-wide Travelers umbrella logo in the pond on the 16th tee to 4.5 inches. It beat 28 of the 106 players who participated on Hole 15-1/2 and earned Rose a $10,000 donation to his favorite charity, the Central Florida Children's Home, located about a mile from his home at Lake Nona in Orlando.

"Excuse the pun using the Travelers logo, but when it rains, it pours. Right," Rose said with a smile. "I knew it was close, but the guy (measuring the distances) wasn't sure. He said he thought there was one up there a few inches away, and mine looked like it had got a chance. So what do you do but just carry on, and then I got the phone call (Tuesday) night saying that I'd won and they wanted to know what charity I wanted to donate it to."

Rose and his wife Kate have had a close relationship with the Central Florida Children's Home for about three years, so the choice was easy.

"This donation of $10,000, kindly made possible by Travelers, will make a big difference, go a long way to help them contribute to provide great care, shelter and education for these children," Rose said. "It has become harder and harder for the hospital to rise funds with these (tough economic) times recently and to make ends meet.

"It's kind of nice to do something in the local community there. A lot of the kids work in the supermarket. We have a little interaction with them. They're great kids. They've certainly been given great stability by the children's home, so I know they will be delighted and thrilled with this surprise donation."

As delighted and thrilled as Rose was after shooting a closing 6-under-par 66 that was two less than anyone else in the field and enabled him to overcome a four-stroke deficit to tour rookie Rick Fowler and win the Memorial by three. After a star-studded amateur career that included being the youngest to play in the Walker Cup and then missing his first 21 pro cuts after holing his final 100-yard shot from the rough to tie for fourth in the 1988 British Open, Rose had won five European Tour events but not finished better than twice three times on this side of the pond.

"I think 12 years (before winning on the PGA Tour) doesn't feel like a realistic number for me," said Rose, who will be 30 on July 30. "I was very much a European Tour player for about the first five, six years of my career, so certainly since 2004 or 2005, I've been very focused and committed to playing this tour. It's taken a while (to win), no doubt, and I think certainly that was longer than I expected. I had my chances through that period of time and clocked up a decent number of top-10 finishes (28) and some seconds, some I gave away and some where someone took it from me."

Like at the 2005 Buick Championship at River Highlands when Rose started the final round with a one-shot lead over Ben Curtis, matched Curtis' closing 69 but finished third, one behind Brad Faxon (61) and Tjaart van der Walt (64). Faxon birdied the first playoff hole to win his eighth and final PGA Tour title.

"Sometimes you can only do what you can do. You know what I mean?" Rose said. "Fortunately for me on Sunday (at the Memorial), Rickie Fowler was on the opposite end. He went out and played a steady round on a tough day and someone else did to him what's happened to me a couple times. So finally it was my turn, and it felt good."

Before the Memorial victory, Rose was third behind Briny Baird and Brett Quigley in career money earnings among players without a victory. The $1,080,000 first prize increased his tour earnings this year to $1,887,748, 14th on the money list, but he failed to qualify for last week's U.S. Open the next day.

After cleaning up a backlog of interviews from his victory, Rose relaxed and drank a few celebratory beers during barbecues with friends and neighbors for six days.

"I think that was important," said Rose, who became one of 10 players in his 20s to win on tour this year. "It's certainly been a long time coming, so I certainly wanted to make sure I enjoyed the feeling, savored the feeling. Then I felt like I wanted to start practicing again, wanted to start getting out on the range, which I think is also a good feeling. The seasons are long, (you) play a lot of golf, and I think the key is to keep wanting to be out there playing."

Rose watched the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday and was surprised that good friend Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland won at even-par 284.

"It was fantastic to see him pick up that trophy on Father's Day at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach," Rose said. "I mean I couldn't really think of a better golf tournament to win at a better time."

Well, that was a bit of hyperbole. Rose likely would most like to win the British Open in three weeks at famed St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland, where he failed to qualify for the year's third major the last two times it was played at the home of golf. His last chance to accomplish that is to be among the top two players, not previously eligible, from the cumulative money list from The Players Championship, Memorial, St. Jude Classic, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship and next week's AT&T National. Rose leads with $1,080,000, followed by Fowler ($648,000) and Davis Love III ($600,565), who isn't playing this week.

"It's looking good," said Rose, who has made 10 of 13 cuts this year. "It would take a pretty unlucky sequence of events to knock me out, but I'm certainly not taking my eye off the ball. But again, those are the kind of pressures you can put on yourself. But my goal really is just to go out and play the golf course, play my game. All that takes care of itself with good players, so that's the mindset.

"Missing the U.S. Open was very disappointing. It would be made up for me quite a lot if I play the Open championship at St. Andrews after missing in 2000 and 2005. It's kind of always been my Bogey Open, one I really want to play. So I'm here this week and I'm playing next week to secure that spot and go to St. Andrews and enjoy the experience."

Rose would clinch a British Open spot with another $1,080,000 victory Sunday that would make it 2-for-2 on the personal front and a fourth consecutive win for England. He, Lee Westwood (St. Jude Classic) and McDowell have won the last three PGA Tour events.

"I enjoy the golf course," said Rose, who missed the cut at River Highlands for the second time in four years in 2009. "This is a tournament I love having on my schedule. I think it's gotten better and better over the years. Travelers has done a great job elevating the tournament and doing everything they can for the players, new (practice range) and all that stuff.

"It's a really fun course to play, and I've always felt after the U.S. Open, it's like Hilton Head (Verizon Heritage) after the Masters. It's a nice week to come and play and get back to normal, get back to a golf course that you can go out and feel like your game can produce some birdies. I think it's quite a good risk-reward course, great finish around the lake, where 15, 16 and 17 always creates a little bit of drama."

After having finally reached the PGA Tour winner's circle, Rose certainly would enjoy creating plenty more of his own drama the next four days.

"I think the hardest part winning on this tour is that a steady round on Sunday doesn't get it done anymore," Rose said. "Whether you're starting with a one-shot lead or two-shot lead, whatever it might be, you gotta go out and be aggressive, be positive. You gotta be carefree, and that's a hard mindset to get when you play with a lead. And I think the guys who manage to do it are the guys who obviously go out and win.

"You really can't rely on just playing steady on a Sunday. I mean steady can get it done, but you still gotta go out and make birdies, still gotta go out and play good golf. I think maybe 10 years ago, the depth wasn't there for guys to come out of the pack with 61, 62 on Sunday. You're looking at guys in and around the lead who were the real contenders, but now anybody four, five, six back going into Sunday has a chance."

So does that change how you think?

"It takes a little bit of pressure off," Rose said. "I've been saying recently that I'm not trying to build a week. I'm trying to build a career. So it's nice to have it done, but it's not the end game for me. I'm still very focused on just getting better as a player, and that's what drives me day in and day out rather than a capital win now and there.

"It's playing for the rest of the year. It's actually how can I get better today, how can I get better tomorrow, and I think that's the way I'm trying to view the game."