The Open: Family help keep Justin Rose grounded

JUSTIN Rose believes his children could be the key to his Open Championship hopes this week – because they have kept him grounded following his US Open success.

A month on from winning his first major, Rose knows his golfing life will never be the same. The 32-year-old has enjoyed increased media attention, which is set to sharpen further at Muirfield this week, as he has found his time consumed by the requests of others. But after the initial celebrations Rose has quickly realised, after spending two weeks with his young family, that little has actually changed in his life.

And he believes that has ensured there will be no hangover from Merion as he aims to refocus for a shot at the Open title.

“People ask does it change your life but having kids who are four and one – they couldn’t give a monkey’s for me winning the US Open,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme. “Your kids are your kids and your family life is your family life. It doesn’t change your life because that is truly what is important, but the career stuff definitely it has changed.

“I feel like I am past the celebrating stage and I feel like I’m back in the work mode. I’m hungry to get back out practising and get back ready for the Open Championship.

“I feel it’s taken me two or three weeks to get everything out of my system to be at the point where I’m ready now to move on to the next goal.”

Rose is not sure how being a major champion will affect him at Muirfield but he thinks, in front of a home support, it should only aid him.

“It’s going to be different and I can’t answer how it is going to feel for me,” he said. “I have a slight inkling because I played the week after the US Open. I turned up at a PGA Tour event as US Open champion and there’s absolutely no doubt that the reception on the first tee was different. It was all in a positive way. It was an amazing week.

“Now coming here as a major champion I think the support for me will be fantastic, I hope, and certainly if I get myself playing well and into contention I think that is when the support might really spur me on.”

At the very least Rose will be able to draw on his US Open experience should he remain in contention come Sunday afternoon. “Having won the US Open, if I find myself coming down the stretch on Sunday that’s when I think it will pay off,” he said. “Thursday morning there is a lot of work ahead of me and it probably doesn’t mean much. But if I get that sniff, if I get that chance hopefully that’s when I’ll be able to draw upon those positive experiences. I know if I produce my best I’m going to be hard to beat.”