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Zurich win gives Rose major confidence boost
The seven-time TOUR champ goes 66 holes without a dropped shot to outlast the field at TPC Lousiana
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April 26, 2015
By Brian Allee-Walsh , special to PGATOUR.COM
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April 26, 2015
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Justin Rose ranked T3 in driving accuracy this week by hitting 82.14 percent of fairways in regulation. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
AVONDALE, La. -- Justin Rose overcame a formidable field and weathered nearly 10 hours of delays and suspensions since Thursday to capture the wet and wild Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana.
Rose played bogey-free golf over his last 66 holes -- including 30 on Sunday -- en route to a final round 66 and a course-record 266 (22-under), good for his seventh victory on the PGA TOUR.
After climbing to 15th in the FedExCup, he heads to next week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on May 7-10 with momentum and feeling good about his game.
"This is a great shot in the arm of confidence and I just got to keep it going,'' said Rose, currently the ninth-ranked player in the world. "It obviously gets me up there in everything I want to be up there in; a boost in the (Official Golf) World Ranking, a boost in the FedExCup, a huge boost in confidence.
"Now I can target the major championships all the way through the summer without having to chase anything in between. It's going to be great.''
ZURICH CLASSIC: Results, points | Daily Wrap-up | Event video | FedExCup points | Sunday's best photos
Rose forged into the lead in the fourth round with birdies at Nos. 17 and 18, draining putts from 10 feet on the 211-yard, par 3 and 13 1/2 feet at the 573-yard, par 5 finishing holes.
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Highlights
Justin Rose birdies the 72nd hole to win the Zurich Classic
Cameron Tringale came up 18 inches short on a eagle chip from 49 feet at the closing hole that would have put him in a tie with Rose. Tringale finished alone in second place at 21-under 267, one shot better than Boo Weekley (65) at 20-under 268.
Jim Herman (65) and third-round co-leader Jason Day (69) finished tied for fourth at 19-under 269.
"Earlier this year, it looked impossible to win,'' said Rose, who finished T2 at this year's Masters Tournament. "I was struggling with my game, and when you are struggling with your game, sometimes winning seems very far off.
"As a player to make the putt exactly when you need to is huge,'' Rose said. "I don't think I've made a putt to win a PGA TOUR event outright like that before. That was the first time I've had a significant length putt to win.''
After starting out 1-over through his first six holes in Thursday's opening round, Rose shot 23-under over his last 66 holes, including 10 under over the 30 holes he played Sunday because of suspensions and delays caused by rain, darkness and fog in the third round alone.
Rose, 34, now has won at least one tournament in six consecutive seasons, trailing only Dustin Johnson who has won at least once in eight straight.
The numbers behind @JustinRose99's 7th TOUR win: Fairways: 46/56 Greens: 54/72 Scrambling: 16/18 1 bogey, 1 double pic.twitter.com/G0eCy5BKAM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 26, 2015-
Round Recaps
Justin Rose fires a 6-under 66 for the win at Zurich
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA OF THE DAY
Much deserved win from my buddy @JustinRose99 @Zurich_Classic #ZurichClassic ...now headed to San Fran!!
— Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) April 26, 2015Thanks for another great event @Zurich_Classic. You all really know how to take care of the players! Much appreciated!! #seeyounextyear
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) April 26, 2015
CALL & SHOT OF THE DAY
D.H. Lee spiced up his final round with an ace on the 211-yard, par-3 17th at TPC Louisiana en route to a 67 and a 13-under 275. It marked his first hole-in-one on TOUR, the 22nd overall on TOUR this season. He used a 4-hybrid.
Hear Billy Kratzert of PGA TOUR Radio call his hole-in-one below.
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Shot of the Day
D.H. Lee’s hole-in-one is the Shot of the Day
ROUND 4 STATISTICS
CATEGORY LEADER(S) STATISTIC Driving distance Jason Day 313.8 yards
Longest drive Jason Gore 349 yards Driving accuracy Bernd Wiesberger, Steven Bowditch 13 of 14 Strokes gained: tee-to-green Cameron Tringale 2.934 Greens in regulation D.A. Points, Russell Knox, Jim Herman 17 Bogey-free rounds Whee Kim, D.A. Points, Jim Herman, Justin Rose, Lucas Glover, Freddie Jacobson, Justin Thomas, Retief Goosen, Kevin Kisner, Chad Campbell, Brian Davis Strokes gained: putting Blayne Barber 3.889 Putts per round Steve Wheatcroft 20 Longest putt K.J. Choi 60 feet, 9 inches
Strokes gained: total Justin Rose 3.294 Lowest round Whee Kim 64
Total birdies Scott Stallings 9
(Getty Images)
A TITLE SPONSOR'S DREAM: Winning on the PGA TOUR is an accomplishment in and of itself. But winning the Zurich Classic makes it extra special for Justin Rose, an ambassador for the title sponsor.
Rose bested the field with a course-record 22-under 266 after putting the exclamation point on his seventh TOUR victory with a final-round 66.
"This is the first tournament that I've won where my wife (Kate) hasn't been on site,'' Rose said. "So I've substituted her with a lot of good friends this week. Being an ambassador for Zurich now for five years, I've gotten to know everybody very, very well.
"And they're one of the classiest companies around; if it's a birthday or if it's a significant date on the calendar, I always get emails from the executive board. They just really stay in touch with friends. I really value the relationship from that point of view. It's nice to share this with them.''
ODDS AND ENDS
Jason Day now has held a 54-hole lead five times on the PGA TOUR but won just once ... at the 2010 AT&T Byron Nelson Championship, Day and Justin Rose shared the 54-hole lead at 16-under. Rose emerged victorious at 22-under. ...
Scott Stallings tied a PGA TOUR best this season with seven consecutive birdies on his inward nine in Sunday's final round -- holes 2 through 8. He had a shot at tying the front nine record of 7-under 29 at TPC Louisiana but bogeyed the par-3 ninth hole. ...
Champion Justin Rose has shot par or better in consecutive rounds at TPC Louisiana, averaging 68.25 per round.
PHOTO GALLERY
Take a look at a few of the most memorable moments captured during Sunday's final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana.
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