Former world No 1 Justin Rose's victory is his first PGA Tour success since the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open and earns him an invite to The Masters; a final-round 66 secured a three-stroke victory over Brendon Todd and Brandon Wu at Pebble Beach
Tuesday 7 February 2023 18:39, UK
Justin Rose ended a four-year winless run on the PGA Tour with an impressive three-stroke victory in a Monday finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
The Englishman took a two-shot lead into the fifth day, with eight players separated by three shots, only to pull clear of the chasing pack with an excellent back-nine display at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Rose resumed on the 10th hole and made three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the 11th, before closing out a six-under 66 to end the week on 18 under and comfortably ahead of closest challengers Brendon Todd and Brandon Wu.
The victory secured Rose his 11th PGA Tour title but his first since the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open, with his latest success earning him a spot at The Masters in April and bolstering his hopes of qualifying for Europe's Ryder Cup team this autumn.
The former world No 1 restarted his final round from the 10th fairway and holed from five feet to begin with a par, although he found his lead cut to one when Todd opened with a birdie at the 13th to go six under for his round.
Rose drained a putt from nearly 30 feet at the par-four next to go two ahead again and two-putted from off the 12th green to continue his blemish-free start, only for Todd to roll in from 10 feet at the 14th to halve his advantage.
A 20-foot birdie at the 13th by Rose was followed by the world No 71 flicking a wedge to eight feet at the par-five next and making the putt, taking him three clear, while Todd closed out his bogey-free back nine with four straight pars to end the week on 15 under.
None of the chasing pack were able to make a late charge on Rose, who made two-putt pars over the next three holes to take a three-shot cushion to the par-five last, with the 42-year-old electing to hit iron off the final tee and laying up on his way to a winning par.
Todd was joined on tied-second by Wu after the American posted back-to-back birdies from the 14th and almost chipped in for eagle at the par-five last, with a closing tap-in birdie seeing him match Rose's final-round 66.
Rose's playing partner Peter Malnati registered just one birdie on Monday and closed with a three-under 69 to leave him tied-fourth with Denny McCarthy - who carded a joint-low round-of-the-day 64 - and fellow American Keith Mitchell.
Joseph Bramlett, Gareth Bale's team-mate during the Pro-Am competition, claimed seventh spot alongside Taylor Pendrith, Kevin Yu and Ryan Moore. Viktor Hovland shared 13th place and Ireland's Seamus Power ended tied-15th.
Rose's victory lifts him inside the top 10 of the FedExCup rankings and follows top-30 finishes in his previous four PGA Tour starts, with the success also elevating him back to 35th in the latest world rankings.
"One thing I have realised is obviously I haven't been playing enough great golf, but when I do play half decent I do give myself chances to win," Rose said. "It was nice today to tee off with a lead.
"Obviously a win does give you a lot of belief. We always know we can do it, but sometimes you've got to see the proof. That [winning] does make me feel good."
The PGA Tour heads to Arizona next for the most highly-attended event on the calendar, the WM Phoenix Open, where world No 1 Rory McIlroy is among eight of the world's top 10 in action and Scottie Scheffler returns as defending champion.
Watch early coverage from TPC Scottsdale on Thursday from 3pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 7.30pm. The DP World Tour's Singapore Open is also live on Sky Sports Golf this week, with coverage starting at 5.30am on Thursday
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