(Reuters) – Britain’s Justin Rose has set his sights on making a push for Europe’s Ryder Cup team for this year’s event in Rome after he ended a four-year wait for a PGA Tour victory by winning the weather-delayed Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California on Monday.
Former world number one and 2013 U.S. Open champion Rose, 42, carded a final-round 66 to end the week on 18 under par, recording a three-shot victory after the final round was suspended on Sunday because of darkness.
Rose finished ahead of Americans Brendon Todd and Brandon Wu to lift his first trophy since the Farmers Insurance Open in 2019 and 11th on the PGA Tour.
Rose, who has a 13-8-2 record against the United States in the Ryder Cup, missed out on selection for Europe’s team in 2021 when they were thrashed 19-9 at Whistling Straits and said he hopes to be part of Luke Donald’s line-up for the Sept. 25-Oct 1 tournament.
“I haven’t even entertained what the Ryder Cup looks like for me, other than I want to be there,” Rose said.
“What was really important to me was getting off to a good start on the PGA Tour so I wasn’t under pressure later in the season, so I could turn my attentions to the Ryder Cup and the European Tour.
“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.”
Rose said it was a “big relief” to secure qualification for this year’s Masters at Augusta National in April, for which he had not yet been eligible after plummeting to world number 84 earlier this year and entering last week at 71.
“Augusta’s definitely been a big part of being on my mind. I thought the simple way to approach it was try to play my way into the top 50 in the world,” said Rose, whose victory moved him up to 35.
“An incredible week from start to finish with so much happening in my favour.”
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru)
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