Justin time
Last updated: 7th March 2008
Rose: high hopes
I feel like all the experiences I went through last year could help me to win a major this year and that pressure's there.
Justin Rose
Quotes of the week
Justin Rose insists he is ready to build on a successful 2007 by winning a major this season.
At the age of 27, Rose has been on tour for nearly 10 years and last year his hard work paid off as he claimed the European Order of Merit title in a thrilling climax to the season at the Volvo Masters.
Rose spoke to Golf Night's Tim Barter about his plans for the forthcoming season and insists he does not need to change his game too much in order to win his first major title.
He said: "I'm not going to try and reinvent my game this year in order to try and compete in the majors. I feel the off-season's been great and it's just a case of refining everything.
"Knowing I'm coming into the year with my game at a level where it's stood up on the toughest courses and under pressure, meant that the off-season was fairly easy because I wasn't trying to re-invent myself or change my swing or anything like that."
Rose was in contention in all of the majors last year with his worst finishes coming at The Open and the PGA Championship where he came 12th - and he feels he has benefited from those experiences.
But while he feels he is capable of winning one of the big tournaments, he is not putting himself under unnecessary pressure to do so.
Expectation
He continued: "I think last year I got a lot of learning under my belt and I feel ready, although I don't feel like I'm putting pressure on myself just yet to go out and do it this year. It's not a 'this year or bust' situation.
"I feel like all the experiences I went through last year could help me to win a major this year and that pressure's there.
"But I feel like I've had a large part of my career with that sort of expectation upon me so it's not anything overly new.
"It's always nice to back up a good year with another good year. I've set my goals even higher and that's what you've got to do."
Rose has won titles on three continents, but one of his other goals for the forthcoming season is to win his first tournament on the PGA Tour.
And he says his schedule will remain similar to last year, which means spending the majority of his year playing in the USA.
Schedule
"Winning is winning and you go through the same emotions whether it's on the PGA Tour or the European Tour, so I just keep putting myself in the right situations and hopefully it will happen over here.
"I think my schedule will be fairly similar to last year. From January through to September I'll mainly focus on the PGA Tour and the FedEx Cup schedule, then I'll come back to Europe and work hard from September onwards like I did last year.
"I'll certainly come back for Wentworth and I might put another event in around The Open."
One of his other ambitions for the year is to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup in Valhalla, a challenge which Rose insists he is "ready" for.
He added: "This is the first time I feel ready to play in the Ryder Cup and I feel like I should make the team and I want to make the team.
"I've put it out there and I'm working hard towards it. I've got off to a good start Ryder Cup wise but obviously I need to keep my head down and keep working hard and keep playing hard.
"I think it's going to be - and I certainly hope it's going to be - one of the highlights of the year."
To see more from our Justin Rose interview, watch the video in the top right of your screen.
- Video
