Justin Rose with his Turkish Airlines Open Trophy
38-year-old English golfer Justin Rose rose to World No.1 for the second time, after reaching the spot last on September 20, 2018. Rose successfully defended his Turkish Airlines Open title (earned €1,025,132 = ₹8,53,40,559) in a playoff against Chinese Haotong Li. Notably, this is the first successful title defense from the Englishman in a career spanning over 20 years.
RELATED: Brooks Koepka rises to World No.1
“It’s taken me 20 years to defend a title, so that’s great,” Rose said. “It’s interesting because normally when you win a golf tournament, it’s at a golf course you like, so I’m surprised it has taken this long to kind of achieve that.
“But it’s been a great week in Turkey, on and off the golf course. I really enjoy this week, and I think the off-course is as important as the on-course because at this time of year, everyone is dragging and everyone is getting pretty tired, and it’s almost been a rejuvenating week in some ways.
“It’s really nice to be back at world No 1. That’s just something to be proud of. It certainly doesn’t make you one under par on the first tee the next time you play, but it’s something to be proud of for sure.
“I’m heading home now, which is exciting. I’m sure we will re-toast getting to No 1, and this time I’ve got some silverware. Last time it was muted because I was still so mad at not winning the tournament at the BMW, but this time I’ve got the double-kind-of-winning feeling, so it might be a bit more fun to celebrate it at this time.
“I’ve had some pressure-packed Sundays of late and, dare I say, I’ve kind of been coming away with consolation prizes in a way. World No 1 after losing in a playoff, finishing fourth but winning the FedEx Cup. That was an interesting one because I knew exactly what I had to do and I was playing a tournament within a tournament.
“But I was not having that winning feeling in a tournament but still coming away with accolades. I was keenly aware I wanted to get back in the winner’s circle and it was good to get it done today.”
Rose last climb to World No.1 came on September 10. 2018, for a total of two weeks, exactly 55 days prior to his repeat. Previously, Brooks Koepka held the spot for two weeks after replacing Dustin Johnson as the numero uno.
His best performances in 2018 include:
- Fort Worth Invitational – Win
- Dell Technologies Championship – 2nd
- BMW Championship – 2nd
- 147th Open Championship – T2