Justin Rose got his 2026 off to a stunning start with a record-breaking wire-to-wire victory at the Farmers Insurance Open.
His 23-under-par total of 265 is the lowest 72-hole score in the San Diego event's history after also breaking the 36 and 54-hole records, while he became the first over-45 since 2000 to win a PGA Tour event by seven-strokes.
It was Rose's 13th PGA Tour title and second in quick succession after his win at the FedEx St Jude Championship in August.
He moves up to 3rd in the Official World Golf Ranking, behind only Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, and said after his win that he felt validated after choosing not to join LIV Golf - something he has spoken about many times over the past few years.
The Englishman seemed an obvious candidate to join the Saudi-backed tour as a former World No.1 and Major winner in his forties, who witnessed many of his close friends and peers join the league like Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
While his fellow over-40 European colleagues either remain in LIV Golf or have been relegated in Stenson's case, Rose has continued on the traditional path with the goal of winning another Major.
He has come so close since, having finished runner-up at the 2024 Open at Royal Troon before losing to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at Augusta last year.
He said it would have been 'easy to do other things' and credited his decision to stay on the elite US circuit in order to chase his dreams, and that is likely the reason why he has been 'knocking on the door' at Majors since.
"Yeah, I feel like, yeah, my career goals have always only been attainable by staying on the European Tour and the PGA Tour because access to them is not, you know, not possible the other way," Rose said.
"But obviously I want to play in amongst the best players in the world. That obviously for me is kind of what keeps me motivated, what keeps me hungry, what keeps me pushing.
"So yeah, it would have been easy to potentially do other things, but none of that excited me I don't think really.
"And none of it gave me access to what I wanted to achieve. So I kind of always felt like my childhood self wouldn't feel very good about making that decision and kind of giving up on those dreams.
"I feel like, yeah, I've been close. I would say, you know, sniffing and knocking on the door of a couple Majors since those decisions were made and those moments.
"Yeah, it did validate the decision. Yeah, the way things are in the world of golf right now, yeah, I feel like it's good to see people wanting to kind of play where it motivates them to be their best."
Rose begins the 2026 Major season among the favorites to win one of the big four events after turning his career around since dropping out of the world's top 75 at the end of 2022.
Since winning at Torrey in 2019 atop the OWGR, the Englishman went winless until the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after changing equipment and struggling with his game.
He credits recommitting himself to his profession as well as linking up with Mark Blackburn and reuniting with his caddie, Mark 'Fooch' Fulcher, as key additions to his team for this latest phase of his career.
"I would say I've always tried really hard but I think maybe post-Covid-ish, at that time, like 2021, that era. So coming off the back of getting to World No.1, started to play pretty poor golf I think in 2020, 2021 maybe in 2022," he said of his slump following his spell as World No.1.
"I can't even remember, they all blend into one another. But I felt like at that point, yeah, I needed to make a shift but I don't want to go out like this.
"I don't want to just having been No.1 in the world and just kind of drift into nowhere. So I felt like there was a bit of I'm not going to let that happen sort of mentality. So a bit of a recommitment.
"Obviously a reassembling of a team as well. Mark Blackburn's been a fantastic addition. That was kind of back into '22, into '23. He's kept me on point, we have a great blueprint.
"He's really been wonderful for me as well, you know, along with Fooch coming back on the bag as well. So yeah, there's been a few changes, but yeah, the commitment as well."
So, what next for Justin Rose's career? There's only one thing on his mind.
"Majors is where I have my attention, for sure. I mean, obviously like I said, I've achieved a lot in the game, but I've achieved a lot of it just once," he said.
"So I'll take multiple of anything that I've achieved for sure would be great. But if I look at my career, yeah, I've been really close to the Open, I've been really close to the Masters.
"The dream of winning all four was obviously the ultimate goal since I've been a kid. but it seems a long way off to think that way, but if you think about some of the results I've had in the last year or 18 months, I'm not that far away so may as well keep believing."
