In-form Justin Rose cut a relaxed figure on the eve of the BMW Masters in Shanghai, with the Englishman ready for one final push in his attempt to become the European Tour’s Number One player for a second time.
Rose is bidding for back-to-back victories on Chinese soil following his win at the UBS Hong Kong Open three weeks ago, a victory which brought The Race to Dubai crown firmly into his thoughts, and he knows a timely second title at this late stage in the 2015 season could be hugely significant, with just next week’s DP World Tour Championship, Dubai remaining.
The 2013 US Open Champion currently trails Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy by 865,699 points, but he could move into the top spot with victory at Lake Malaren Golf Club on Sunday, with even second place also potentially sufficient to take pole position heading into the season finale, depending on the performances of Danny Willett, Shane Lowry and Louis Oosthuizen – the three other players presently ahead of him.
It is eight years since Rose last lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy as Europe’s Number One, but the 35 year old appears to be timing his 2015 run to perfection, producing a rich vein of form over recent months.
He has not finished outside the top six in his last four appearances on the European Tour, a superb streak which includes The Open Championship, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA Championship before his Hong Kong victory.
And with an impressive record in the BMW Masters, where he finished tied fourth 12 months ago and joint sixth the previous year, Rose has clear and simple objectives over the next fortnight.
“I had a great week in Hong Kong,” he said. “It was fun and I played really, really well. Lucas Bjerregaard obviously pushed me right to the end and we separated from the field a little bit, so that was fun to have that head-to-head shootout.
“It is always nice to pick up a win late in the season and pick up some points, and obviously that gives me a better shot at The Race to Dubai.
“I feel very good about my game. Getting back from Hong Kong, it was more a case of relaxing and recharging the batteries before a bit of travelling and one final last-ditch effort to try and overtake Rory and Danny and a couple of the other guys ahead of me.
“If I win any of the last two events that puts me ahead of them, depending on what they do. For me it’s fairly simple: I need to play well for the next two weeks.”
After missing out on a place in the three-man play-off by just one shot at last year’s BMW Masters, Rose is targeting a quicker start that he managed 12 months ago at Lake Malaren. The Ryder Cup star had a treble bogey eight on his fourth hole, but then fought back strongly to finish in a share of fourth position behind winner Marcel Siem.
“Last year was an interesting tournament for me,” he said. “I was four over through the first four holes of the tournament and went on a tear from there, and I was 23 under par for the next 56 holes before Sunday got pretty tricky. Then I bogeyed the last to miss a play-off.
“Hopefully it’s a course that does suit my eye and it’s a course that you have to drive the ball well on, and distance definitely helps around here. So I will have to drive it well.
“The closing stretch is obviously tricky, and 17 and 18 typically play into the prevailing wind from what I remember, and that caused some trouble last year for a lot of guys coming down the stretch. I played the par fives well and I think that helps build a good score around here.”
Meanwhile, Rose’s Ryder Cup teammate Henrik Stenson is a player who knows all about ending the season strongly, having won the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai for the past two seasons.
Stenson is currently 18thin The Race to Dubai, but after an encouraging weekend in the WGC-HSBC Champions which led to a share of 11thplace, Stenson is hoping to produce another trademark late run for The Race to Dubai crown he captured in 2013.
“There are a lot of points to play for here this week, and of course in Dubai in the final. So two wins or two really good weeks could do the trick, I guess. So first things first, I’ve got to play well here this week to put myself in position.
“Hopefully I can get off to a quicker start than I did last week and get myself in contention here.”
