England's Rose still searching for U.S. breakthrough

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Justin Rose carded a course-record-tying 64 at The Honda Classic to finish in third place.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Justin Rose looked at his scorecard and shook his head.

"Slow start, huh?" he said.

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Rose was kidding -- he had started Sunday's final round of The Honda Classic with four consecutive birdies at PGA National. That kick-started a course-record-tying 64 that elevated Rose into third place, six shots behind champion Camilo Villegas.

But the phrase "slow start" also applies to Rose's career.

He has now entered 154 PGA TOUR events as a professional and has yet to raise a trophy in the U.S. Rose, who has won five times on the European Tour and has an Order of Merit to his credit, admits he's surprised by his lack of a breakthrough victory on the PGA TOUR.

"Yeah, I played good enough golf to win out here. I've been close a few times," said Rose, who has three runner-up finishes in the U.S. "I would have hoped that one of them would have got in the way by now. Sometimes, winning just gets in the way without you trying too hard."

When the Englishman turned pro at 17 after an electric fourth-place finish at the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale -- his hole-out on the 72nd hole for a birdie remains one of the largest roars I've heard at a major -- great things were expected of him. Instead, he struggled to make cuts instead of contending.

He turned things around in 2002, when he won four times overseas. He joined the PGA TOUR in 2004 and has done everything but win on TOUR. In 2008, he played in his first Ryder Cup.

But now, when golf fans refer to the top English players, Rose's name is barely mentioned. The latest world rankings have three Englishmen in the top six (No. 4 Lee Westwood, No. 5 Ian Poulter and No. 6 Paul Casey), followed by three others in the top 50: Ross Fisher (No. 23), Luke Donald (No. 24) and Oliver Wilson (No. 36). At No. 76, Rose also ranks behind Simon Dyson (No. 55), Ross McGowan (No. 63) and Chris Wood (No. 68).

"I'd struggle to make the English Ryder Cup team," Rose said, smiling. "I feel like I'm a pretty good player, so that does speaks volumes for how strong English golf is right now. Obviously, we are a real big golfing nation. British people love their golf. Even though it's a small country, I think it's not that surprising to me that that's the sort of representation on TOUR."

Like most golfers who aren't winning consistently, Rose believes he's getting in his own way too often on the golf course. Thinking about too many things.

Looking at too many leaderboards.

So he took the attitude Sunday to just play golf and not worry about the results. Then you look up, and you're 4 under after four holes.

"The funny thing about golf (is) that if you try too hard to come out and go low, obviously it goes the other way," he said. "All weekend I felt really relaxed. I kind of hit a little sweet spot in terms of enjoying my golf and just staying really nice and composed, and I think today probably is the most composed I've been for a long time."

Too bad for Rose that his upswing is occurring too late to get him into this week's World Golf Championships-CA Championship at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Rose also isn't eligible for the Masters, though he has two more starts (Transitions Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational) to earn his way into Augusta National.

Rose, who has shifted focus from the European Tour to the PGA TOUR partly because he's no longer in the top 50 in the world rankings, says he isn't even thinking a about making this year's European Ryder Cup team.

"The Ryder Cup is really important to me, but it's something that I don't feel like I can focus on right now," he said. "It's a weird thing. I think for me to get into the Ryder Cup, I need to not worry about the Ryder Cup if that makes any sense. The Ryder Cup will take care of itself if I play well."

Eventually, so will that first PGA TOUR win.