Rose triumphs at Zurich Classic
England’s Justin Rose bagged his seventh PGA Tour title with a superb closing 66 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday.
The Englishman has enjoyed a solid run of form this year, including a tied-second place finish at the Masters two weeks ago, and he finally made that form count as he closed with a six-under-par round at TPC Louisiana to finish on 22 under par and beat Cameron Tringale by just one stroke.
“This is a great shot in the arm of confidence and I just got to keep it going,” Rose told Pgatour.com.
“It obviously gets me up there in everything I want to be up there in; a boost in the (Official Golf) World Ranking, a boost in the FedExCup, a huge boost in confidence.
“Now I can target the major championships all the way through the summer without having to chase anything in between. It’s going to be great.”
Rounds of 69, 66 and 65 had set up the title tilt in the final round, and the former US Open champion didn’t disappoint as he bagged six more birdies on the final day to secure the big win.
He would have been particularly pleased with his finish, which saw him birdie 17 and 18 just when he needed it most to leave his rivals floundering.
“Earlier this year, it looked impossible to win. I was struggling with my game, and when you are struggling with your game, sometimes winning seems very far off,” he said.
“To make the putt exactly when you need to is huge. I don’t think I’ve made a putt to win a PGA TOUR event outright like that before. That was the first time I’ve had a significant length putt to win.”
Earlier, Tringale had posted a final-round 65 at the weather-disrupted event to post a clubhouse total of 21 under par, which seemed at one stage as if it might prove enough for victory.
But Rose’s birdie-birdie finish saw him catch and pass Tringale to walk away with the spoils.
Veteran Boo Weekley also posted a 65 to finish alone in third on 20 under, while Jason Day’s closing 69 was only good enough for a tie for fourth alongside Jim Herman a further shot back.