Justin Rose is hoping he can build on his Ryder Cup heroics and boost his bid to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship when he makes his long-awaited return to the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.
The Major champion is making his first appearance at Spain’s national open since 2002, less than two weeks on from playing his part in Team Europe regaining the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
Rose is quickly back in action at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid this week, with just four events left between now and the final tournament of the 2023 campaign in Dubai.
Despite not feeling under any undue pressure to replicate the levels he showed as he contributed 1½ points from three matches in Italy earlier this month, Rose is eager to make the most of his first visit to the Spanish capital.
"I feel like the season as a whole has been somewhat a successful one with a lot of solid golf in there," he told the DP World Tour.
"It was obviously nice just to get that momentum going into the Ryder Cup and obviously hold some putts and be effective in terms of contributing towards the team.
"But I don't feel like there’s necessarily any pressure to find that level of golf for the rest of the season.
"I think it was just a good sign that at the highest end of pressure the game holds up and stands up and all the work you have been doing all this year was obviously worth it, paid off in that moment."
Rose lies 83rd on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, with the top 50 available players making the field for the DP World Tour Championship, an event he last appeared at in 2019.
The Englishman is confirmed to tee it up at next month’s Nedbank Golf Challenge and wants to finish the campaign strongly.
"This is the type of event I haven’t played a lot of and it’s obviously great to be supporting the DP World Tour and also I’ve got some work to do myself.
"Obviously, I’d love to be playing in Dubai at the end of the season.
"I’ve got some points to make and some ground to make up as well."
Bobby 'did brilliantly'
Rose played alongside Robert MacIntyre in the two fourballs sessions at the Ryder Cup, earning praise from the Scottish rookie for how he helped him through the experience.
The relationship between @robert1lefty and @JustinRose99 💙 #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/PYndGzhITq
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 4, 2023
Speaking ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, MacIntyre revealed Rose kept him calm despite being on the verge of tears on the first tee.
Rose said those comments were "very gracious and kind" and praised his teammate for how he performed under pressure.
"I really enjoyed that part of my role, if it was a role that was sort of given to me," the 2013 U.S. Open Champion said.
"I said at the beginning of the week, I really do realise and appreciate that I am sort of moving into that type of role, but I don’t want to overpower that role.
"I don’t want to take my thoughts and put them where they are not wanting.
"If any of the lads needed anything or reassurance or a question, I was sort of like an open door, and, you know, I’m happy to help out as much as I can.
"Even with Bobby, he didn’t feel like he needed a lot of help. He just needed an arm around him and reassurance that he was doing fine.
"You can always expect a lot of yourself in that type of situation. He did brilliantly.
"Like I’ve said to him, I’ve sort of had some of the highlight reel moments, but he had so many moments in the matches where he was obviously making a par when I was out of a hole and things like that, that just kept us chugging along and he was pulling his weight unbelievably well as well.
"He was very kind and gracious, and it was obviously nice to hear. I was so happy for him to get 2 ½ points out of three in his first Ryder Cup was an unbelievable performance."
