Rose completes wire-to-wire run, claims BMW Championship
A young family of three, fittingly, shared hugs and smiles and stood on Cog Hill's 18th green, just as golf's latest champion had envisioned it and wished for when he woke up Sunday morning.
Just south of Chicago, where an NBA team is usually about to get ready for another season at this time of the year, it was another Rose who was No. 1, an MVP, earning cheers and an even a low five from a certain toddler.
As he did the first three days of the BMW Championship in Lemont, Justin Rose finished the day atop the leader board. His final-round, even-par 71 on a rainy day and 13-under total, good for a 2-shot win over John Senden, gave the 31-year-old from Johannesburg, South Africa his third PGA Tour win.
It also moved Rose to No. 3 in the FedExCup Playoffs.
“Three is a great number on both accounts,” Rose said. “To win my third tournament feels like I'm moving in the right direction, and to move to 3 on the FedExCup list and give myself control of my own destiny next week in Atlanta (The Tour Championship) is something I didn't foresee at the beginning of the week.”
Rose started Sunday with a 4-stroke edge on Senden, the 6-foot-3 native of Brisbane, Australia. Rose led the tournament wire-to-wire, essentially securing his victory when he chipped in for birdie on the 17th, after Senden, who had pulled within 1, hit his approach into the right trap.
After Rose slam-dunked a tap-in for par on No. 18, 2½-year-old Leo Rose raced onto the green. Daddy dropped his hand and exchanged low fives with his son, before embracing his wife, Kate.
“That's a moment I dream about and look forward to,” Leo's daddy said. “This morning, I got a bit ahead of myself to imagine what it would be like to have the family run out on 18. I think that is one of the most special moments, because the family lives and breathes it as much as you do.”
Rose, who captured his first two tour wins (Memorial, AT&T National) last year, saw his lead whittled to a single stroke on the par-5 15th after his tee shot landed in the shrubs on the right. He made bogey, while Senden parred.
On No. 17, Rose's approach landed just short of the green, 35 feet, 10 inches from the stick. He grabbed his 54-degree wedge and had a chat with himself.
“I said to myself, ‘These are the moments when tournaments are won,' ” Rose said. “It was an easy chip. It just needed committing to it, just not wimping out. It was lovely to have that sort of dialogue with yourself and then see it play out in your favor.”
When his golf ball nestled into the cup, Rose pumped his fist. Senden, having just blasted out of the bunker, smiled at him.
“That was a beautiful chip shot that he hit,” Senden said. “He left the ball in the correct spot if he did miss. It was a straightforward chip shot, but with the circumstances, it was a very, very great shot under pressure.”
Rose had started the week in 34th place in the FedExCup playoffs and, with the top 30 advancing to Atlanta, needed to play great at Cog Hill. His Sunday 71 was his only round not in the 60s.
Senden, who shot a 69, also had three sub-70 rounds.
“You can boil the whole day down to that moment (on the 17th),” Rose said. “John Senden was just a rock out there. Bogey-free round, that was awesome. But I knew it was coming down to me. Either I was going to fritter it away or make something happen to win the tournament.”
It ended just he like dreamed it.