The pivotal role Justin Rose's wife played in his incredible performances in both The Open and Ryder Cup has been highlighted.
Rose ended his partnership with his long-standing caddy, Mark "Fooch" Fulcher, in 2019. However, they decided to reunite last summer at the behest of Rose's wife. This reunion seems to have worked like magic, as the 43-year-old notably contributed to Europe's triumph over America in Rome, resulting in the reclamation of the famous trophy, followed by a commendable performance at Royal Troon on Sunday.
Despite having faced challenging weather conditions throughout the week on Scotland's west coast, Rose demonstrated immense skill to catapult himself into contention during the initial three rounds. However, he fell short by two shots to Xander Schauffele, who secured his standing as one of the contemporary greats in the sport.
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Rose had to share his second-place finish with Billy Horschel, and was visibly emotional coming off from the 18th green after narrowly missing a victory he deeply coveted, instead snatched away by the world No. 2.
The British golfer, previously victorious at the U.S. Open and Olympics, exudes confidence about future wins being a possibility, attributing his renewed vitality to regaining Fooch as his teammate.
But it was a heartfelt call from Rose's wife, Kate, to Fulcher's partner, Adrienne, that mended the fences between the former world No. 1 golfer and his caddie. Fulcher admitted their reunion would "absolutely not" have happened without the ladies stepping in.
"'Does Fooch fancy coming back? The old boy's a bit miserable,'" Kate reportedly said, according to Fulcher. "And I think my wife was saying, 'My old boy's a bit miserable, he's drinking too much wine and sitting on the couch,' so why not come back? ".
"Mrs Rose gets what Mrs Rose asks for, and she's amazing. She's always been a huge backer of me. We got to Wentworth and got to the house and it didn't feel like those years had gone past at all."
With Rose facing the latter stages of his career, Fulcher noted: "Justin's very conscious of his age and I think that's an inspiration for him. He wants to buck the trend of it being 20-year-olds and obviously there is unbelievable talent coming out every day.
"But he believes in that Steve Stricker mould and having gone back to work for him, he's certainly stronger than I've ever seen. Fifteen years since I started working for him and obviously he's more experienced, but he hasn't changed his personality on the golf course and I think he can compete.
"He's using it as an inspiration. There was a time when players matured in their mid-30s. Now they are maturing at 19. But I think it's an amazing challenge and I'm grateful to come on board with that journey with him again.
"There is no question that his emphasis is more on the majors. That's why he wanted to try to qualify and that's why finishing second is great for us this week because I think it gets us in all the majors next year."
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