PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Justin Rose had a different set of goals at the start of the year.
His back was starting to become bothersome. His world ranking sank to its lowest point in 13 years. and he had reason to wonder if he would spend the first full week in April somewhere other than Augusta National.
All that changed Monday morning when Rose capped off a long week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with three quick birdies and four steady pars that gave him a three-shot victory, his first in four years.
Along with the crystal trophy — his 11th on the PGA Tour, 23rd worldwide — and the $1.62 million prize comes an invitation to the Masters. Rose has been eligible for every major dating to St. Andrews in 2010, a streak he did not want to end.
“Augusta’s definitely been a big part of being on my mind,” Rose said after closing with a 6-under 66 in cool but pristine conditions at Pebble Beach. “I thought the simple way to approach it was try to play my way into the top 50 in the world ... claw my way up the world rankings and make it that way.
“Obviously this,” he said, tapping the crystal on a table next to him, “is a better way to make it by winning a tournament. So yeah, big relief from that point of view.”
The wind-delayed tournament forced a Monday finish, and Rose had staked himself to a two-shot lead Sunday night with an eagle-birdie-par stretch along the ocean.
And then he delivered a knockout punch early to as many as a dozen players who were within three shots of the lead at various points on the course.
After a good two-putt par on the 10th to resume his round, Rose holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th, a 20-foot birdie putt on the 13th and then hit a wedge to the back shelf on the par-5 14th to 8 feet for a third birdie.
From there, it was about playing it safe and soaking up the views.
For all the weather this week — and it was everything, all the time — the final three hours featured a stunning blue sky and big surf, waves crashing into the rocks and adding to a scenery that already is among the best in golf.
Rose finished three shots clear of Brendon Todd (65) and Brandon Wu (66).
The 42-year-old from England had not won since Torrey Pines in 2019, when he was No. 1 in the world. He finished last year at No. 76, his lowest point since early in 2010.
“Amazing how long it’s been,” said Rose, whose victory moved him to No. 35.
The back nine, so difficult in the final hours Sunday evening, was hardly a threat Monday morning. The wind was light and coming from the opposite direction, if anything at the players’ backs instead of into them.
The weather played a big role all week, and no one benefited quite like Rose.
He was six shots out of the lead and going nowhere, facing the strongest wind of the week on the Shore course at Monterey Peninsula, when he hit 5-wood into the par-3 ninth to 3 feet. Before he could mark his ball, the wind blew it some 4 feet farther away.
That was enough for officials to halt play — the ninth and 15th greens at Monterey Peninsula were the problems — on all three courses in the rotation. Rose returned Sunday morning and made what then was a 7-foot birdie putt.
He played the final 10 holes in 6 under for a 65 to take the lead, and then a pivotal stretch Sunday evening gave him a cushion. Rose took it from there, a masterclass weekend of iron play and great putting.
Denny McCarthy was two shots behind when play resumed and had birdie chances on the 16th and 17th that he couldn’t covert. He wound up with a 64 and finished four shots behind, along with Keith Mitchell (68) and Peter Malnati (69).
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Pebble Beach, Calif.
a-Monterey Peninsula Shore Course (Host Course):
6,934 yards; Par 71
b-Pebble Beach Golf Links: 6,972 yards; Par 72
c-Spyglass Hill Golf Course: 7,041 yards; Par 72
Purse: $9 million
Final Round
Note: Tournament is played on three courses with different pars.
Justin Rose (500), $1,620,00069b-69c-65a-66b—269
Brendon Todd (245), $801,00070c-69a-68b-65b—272
Brandon Wu (245), $801,00069c-66a-71b-66b—272
Peter Malnati (115), $378,75071c-66a-67b-69b—273
Denny McCarthy (115), $378,75069b-69c-71a-64b—273
Keith Mitchell (115), $378,75067c-68a-70b-68b—273
Joseph Bramlett (82), $273,37568c-67a-71b-69b—275
Ryan Moore (82), $273,37567a-69b-72c-67b—275
Taylor Pendrith (82), $273,37571c-69a-71b-64b—275
Kevin Yu (82), $273,37568b-70c-70a-67b—275
Beau Hossler (67), $218,25068a-72b-67c-69b—276
Michael Kim (67), $218,25068a-72b-70c-66b—276
Viktor Hovland (58), $182,25070c-67a-69b-71b—277
Ben Martin (58), $182,25066a-72b-70c-69b—277
Eric Cole (51), $146,25065a-71b-73c-69b—278
Hank Lebioda (51), $146,25063a-72b-71c-72b—278
Taylor Moore (51), $146,25071b-71c-68a-68b—278
Seamus Power (51), $146,25072c-64a-73b-69b—278
Scott Stallings (51), $146,25067b-70c-72a-69b—278
Jonas Blixt (37), $88,95072b-72c-64a-71b—279
Brent Grant (37), $88,95068a-69b-69c-73b—279
Garrick Higgo (37), $88,95069c-68a-74b-68b—279
Mark Hubbard (37), $88,95073c-69a-69b-68b—279
Andrew Novak (37), $88,95068a-69b-72c-70b—279
Robby Shelton (37), $88,95073b-68c-66a-72b—279
Nick Taylor (37), $88,95068a-72b-70c-69b—279
Martin Trainer (37), $88,95065a-72b-73c-69b—279
Richy Werenski (37), $88,95068b-70c-71a-70b—279
Sung Kang (26), $58,95070b-71c-71a-68b—280
Kurt Kitayama (26), $58,95064a-70b-70c-76b—280
Satoshi Kodaira (26), $58,95069b-68c-76a-67b—280
Kyle Westmoreland (26), $58,95067b-72c-71a-70b—280
Dylan Wu (26), $58,95069a-70b-72c-69b—280
Harry Hall (21), $49,05064a-74b-73c-70b—281
Kevin Kisner (21), $49,05076c-69a-67b-69b—281
Sam Stevens (21), $49,05068b-75c-68a-70b—281
Byeong Hun An (17), $41,85069a-69b-75c-69b—282
Aaron Baddeley (17), $41,85065a-74b-72c-71b—282
Thomas Detry (17), $41,85071c-69a-73b-69b—282
Adam Schenk (17), $41,85068a-75b-70c-69b—282
Dean Burmester (12), $31,95070c-68a-74b-71b—283
Joel Dahmen (12), $31,95075c-66a-72b-70b—283
Nick Hardy (12), $31,95068b-73c-67a-75b—283
Seonghyeon Kim (12), $31,95073a-70b-70c-70b—283
Russell Knox (12), $31,95069b-71c-70a-73b—283
Doc Redman (12), $31,95074c-66a-70b-73b—283
Danny Willett (12), $31,95071c-71a-72b-69b—283
Tyson Alexander (8), $22,82171c-69a-71b-73b—284
MJ Daffue (8), $22,82169c-72a-70b-73b—284
Harry Higgs (8), $22,82166a-71b-73c-74b—284
Charley Hoffman (8), $22,82170c-70a-72b-72b—284
Tom Hoge (8), $22,82171b-70c-73a-70b—284
Adam Long (8), $22,82172a-70b-71c-71b—284
Augusto Nunez (8), $22,82167a-72b-73c-72b—284
Tano Goya (5), $20,97070b-74c-70a-71b—285
Matthew NeSmith (5), $20,97069b-74c-71a-71b—285
Greyson Sigg (5), $20,97069b-70c-75a-71b—285
Ryan Armour (5), $20,25071b-72c-69a-74b—286
Lanto Griffin (5), $20,25073c-71a-68b-74b—286
Paul Haley (5), $20,25070b-72c-69a-75b—286
David Lingmerth (5), $20,25069c-73a-71b-73b—286
Trevor Werbylo (5), $20,25072b-72c-70a-72b—286
Jordan Spieth (4), $19,62071c-68a-75b-73b—287
Kevin Streelman (4), $19,62074a-71b-69c-73b—287
Fabian Gomez (3), $18,99070a-73b-70c-75b—288
Seung-Yul Noh (3), $18,99072b-71c-71a-74b—288
Sean O’Hair (3), $18,99069b-73c-72a-74b—288
Alex Smalley (3), $18,99075c-67a-72b-74b—288
Callum Tarren (3), $18,99073b-74c-64a-77b—288
Greg Chalmers (2), $18,18067a-77b-70c-75b—289
Cody Gribble (2), $18,18071c-71a-72b-75b—289
Chad Ramey (2), $18,18065b-76c-73a-75b—289
Brian Stuard (2), $18,18073a-70b-71c-75b—289
Geoff Ogilvy (2), $17,73070b-75c-69a-76b—290
Paul O’Hara (2), $17,55071a-69b-74c-77b—291
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