Rose splits with coach Foley, but reverses trend of results at the Colonial

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JUNE 14: Justin Rose of England lines up a putt on the first green during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 14, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

V Krishnaswamy

Justin Rose seems to know where he is headed. His game showed great spark when golf returned to action at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week.

Coaches, caddies and players – they form a team that makes the difference between a good and a great player. So, quite understandably there is a lot of talk as Rose, 39, former World No. 1, Major winner and the reigning Olympic champion, has decided to part ways with his coach Sean Foley after 11 years. There is no new coach on the horizon, and he confirmed to James Corrigan of Telegraph Sport  that he had split with Foley.

“I spent the past three months working on my game at home,” Rose told The Telegraph. “I made a lot of progress and wanted to keep that momentum going when I returned to competition in Fort Worth. I felt it was a good time to take complete ownership of my swing and game. That idea is something Sean has always wanted for me.

“I’m grateful for the successes I had under his tutelage and the career goals I was able to achieve. The door’s open whenever I have questions or want his guidance, as he continues to be one of my closest friends.”

The split was discussed and finalised just before the Charles Schwab Challenge and Rose did not seem to have been hit by that change. Rose was in the mix and ended third at the Colonial.

With Rose spending a lot of time in Bahamas and Foley being in Orlando, Florida, Rose worked on his game by itself and it seems to have given him the confidence to go it alone.

Rose reverses trend at the Colonial by contending

After finishing second at the SMBC Singapore Open on the Asian Tour in January (Matt Kuchar won the event), Rose had a wretched stretch – three missed cuts at Farmer’s Insurance, The Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was T-56 at the Genesis Invitational. So, a third place finish at Charles Schwab seemed to show he made the right call, at least for now.

With Foley, Rose won 10 PGA Tour titles, his one and only major championship, the 2013 US Open, besides, the gold medal at the Olympic golf tournament in 2016 and also reached World No. 1 spot. He is now ranked 14thin the world and will again tee up at this week’s RBC Heritage event at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. His last win on the PGA Tour was the Farmer’s Insurance in 2019.

Chances at the Charles Schwab before finishing third

Soon after his third place finish at the Colonial, Rose summed up the final round and said, “I think 66 (final round), was obviously a good number today. The wind was trickier. The golf course is such a great golf course when the margins are a little tighter like they were today in the breeze. Poor start really, starting 5-5. I always seem to start birdie-birdie on this golf course. Virtually every day I feel like I’m a couple under through 2, so to be 1-over through 2 today was definitely a poor start.

“But hung in there well. Chose to roll the dice off the 5th tee, hit driver there to get a wedge in my hand, made birdie to right the ship.
Yeah, I think if I just look back, the 11th hole, made a 6 there, so not playing the par-5s great today, but other than that, hung in there and stayed with it all day and had great putts on 14, 16 and 18 that all looked in. It’s not over yet, but delighted to have put myself in contention, and down the stretch I felt really comfortable.”

Talking of the putt on the 18th, which if it had fallen would have got him into a play-off with Daniel Berger and Collin Morikawa, Rose said, “Yeah, it was a gentle right to left the whole bay. I played about six to eight inches of break, and that’s the way I normally read putts is more the maximum break and kind of a foot past the speed. I was aware it’s a must-make putt, and then sometimes you grapple with do you kind of take all the break out and get it there, but I don’t make putts that way. It’s not my routine. So a couple feet out, I thought I had made it to be honest with you.”

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