FedExCup Spotlight: Justin Rose

He tied for fourth at last week’s Honda Classic to move to No. 65 in the FedExCup race and now sets his sights on a title defense at TPC Blue Monster, where he has three top-20 finishes in his last four starts. Last year, he chased a T5 finish at The Honda with a WGC-Cadillac victory and he could be on a similar trajectory this year.

“I feel like my game is in similar shape this year really coming into this tournament,” Rose said at his Tuesday press conference. “ You know, Top‑5 last week at The Honda and feel pretty comfortable with how I'm hitting it.  If that putter warms up just a little bit, which is what happened here last year, then I think chances are good for getting back into contention. “

Getting back into contention would be big for Rose’s FedExCup prospects and a repeat victory could move him as high as No. 3 in the race for the FedExCup.

Rose boasts all four of his TOUR victories in the last three years, including last year’s WGC-Cadillac and the 2011 BMW Championship that set him up for a career-best fifth-place final standing in the FedExCup race. A year ago, Rose came in sixth, making him the only player to finish inside the top six each of the last two seasons.

Those last to campaigns doubled Rose’s trips to East Lake in the FedExCup era. He finished 16th in the final 2007 standings and 15th in 2010.

A very active player, Rose has teed it up in at least 19 events in each of the last four seasons and boasts 46 top-25 finishes in 88 starts since the calendar turned to 2009. He’s played some of his best golf late in the season with picking up two Playoff top 10s in 2011 and entering the 2012 Playoffs off back-to-back top-10 finishes (and adding a runner-up showing at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola).