Is Rose a choker?

[chipin1]

I saw that Justin Rose blew a pretty good position at the Nedbank. He's developing a bit of a reputation as someone who can't get over the final hurdle. At Valderrama he was pretty lucky to regain his lead and then yesterday to double bogey the last and lose by one must have hurt.

All this does not bode well for when he is back in contention for another Major... I seem to remember he blew a potentially winning position at this year's Masters.

 

[muttleee]

It's a tag no one wants but Rose does seem to have had more than his fair share of near misses when it's been his to lose. Taking a double bogey when even a bogey will get you into a play-off must be a huge disappointment for him. Having said that, look at Harrington, who had a hatful of second place finishes but still managed to capture the Claret Jug. He did his best to throw that one away with a poor finish too, though. It just goes to show, a choker can win if the other guy chokes even more!

 

[birdieman]

It looks that way but it is very hard to tell whether it's nerves or just bad luck. The closing holes often tend to be hardest, if he'd parred the last and doubled another hole early on he's be in the same position on the leaderboard but no-one would asking 'is he a choker?'.
I seem to recall they labelled Tom Watson a choker in his early days then he won a few and his carrer took off. I quite like Justin Rose, doesn't seem too up himself, hope he does bag a major, he's a good example of a hard working golf pro.
Re the Masters it was just extrememly difficult playing conditions and the big rebound he had off the tree at 17th was very unlucky. He was in it way past Amen Corner and right up to the 71st hole of 72 which was pretty good in my book.

 

[RGuk]

I don't feel that Justin has the confidence yet to bag a biggy, but what do I know.
I keep thinking back to Mickelson's Augusta victory and there was something about him that week, you could see it in his eyes and body language.
If you think back to Paul Lawrie's Open victory 1999, it's fair to say that there was little expectation on him to get the jug, and this made it easier.
All eyes have been on Justin since his hot run all those years ago at the Open. It must be hard to carry this weight of expectation. Similarly. Monty was riding the wave of Euro Tour Stardom and never bagged a major.....
I think it WILL happen....my experience of knowing everyone wants you to do something and having millions of folk watching on TV confirms my theory that you have to be in this position enough times to "not care" a bit, then you'll do it.

Dave

 

[medwayjon]

Having choked a chance for a big money win at pool myself I would say that yes he is a choker.

I gave up the game after that, I only ever choked at pool though, I've been ok with the nerves at other things I do. Strange.

 

[muttleee]

if he'd parred the last and doubled another hole early on he's be in the same position on the leaderboard but no-one would asking 'is he a choker?'.

True but there's just something about throwing it away on the last, especially when you know that you only have to par it to win. Early in the round, you could be taking a lot of risks by attacking every pin to try to bag a few more birdies and if that goes wrong, you could soon run up a few bogies or even doubles. It's highly unlikely you could think that 15 more pars would be enough to win. When you know that fairway, green and 2 putts on the last hole is enough and you still blow it, you have to think that pressure played a big part.

What's even more sickening for Rose is that Immelman finished with 3 consecutive bogies (including a fluffed chip on the last) to give him a chance in the first place but he still didn't take it. No doubt if he had, we'd all be saying what a choker Immelman is!

 

[chipin1]

From the way this thread is going we've menaged to identify quite a few chokers. Harrington, Rose, Immelman - you can certainly add Garcia and probably Monty to that list.

I reckon this is because of Tiger. Winning is so hard nowadays that when either Tiger isn't in the field or isn't in contention players feel that they HAVE to make the most of it. The pressure to win something worthwhile is greater than ever before...

 

[medwayjon]

Lets not over-hype Tiger Woods. He had a golden period where he was picking up majors virtually routinely but he isnt any more.

The thing I hate most about golf is all the people who are disappearing up Mr Woods' behind!

 

[FLOPSHOT]

Lets not over-hype Tiger Woods. He had a golden period where he was picking up majors virtually routinely but he isnt any more.

The thing I hate most about golf is all the people who are disappearing up Mr Woods' behind!

To be fair tho jon his dads just snuffed it and then hes gone and had a kid so he's gonna lose his game a little(wee in scotland). as most people we all know how important tigers old man was to him Hes stil kicking ass just look at his stats
http://www.pgatour.com/players/00/87/93/

 

[chipin1]

Steady on Jon! Tiger won one major last year which by his standards might not be that good but his wife did give birth in the middle of the year.

When you factor in the WGC events, Tiger wins 50% of big events every year. I'm not disappearing up his backside, just stating the facts. This means that there are less big tournaments up for grabs for the likes of Harrington and Garcia. As a result, when they are in contention they MUST feel extra pressure not to throw away the opportunity.

 

[medwayjon]

Fair point, it is just a bug-bear of mine when people try to talk golf with me and all they say is "tiger this blah blah, tiger that, blah blah"

My wife gave birth in very traumatic circumstances last december but my work didn't go to rat-poo, I don't accept that excuse.

As for his dad floppy, fair enough mate, that is a very valid observation.

 

[rgs]

I dont think Rose is a choker nor would i call Harrington, Monty or Garcia chokers.

All know how to win but it is difficult to win a tournament when the majority of players are of a similar level talent wise. With the exception of Rose all have played and won Ryder Cups-where extreme pressure is on the players. Monty,I think is unbeaten in singles and Harrington has won 3 out of 4 singles.

 

[DCB]

I don't think he is. If he was he wouldn't be out there in the late afternoon on a sunday.

When he turned pro after his Open heroics it did make him look like a fish out of water. Now he is at the other end of the scale and challenging for a win on a sunday afternoon. As long as he learns from this and takes it forward I think he may well be a possible Major winner in the next couple of years.

He had a fairly good major record this past year, one of only a few who made all the cuts I think.

Best of luck to him.

 

[medwayjon]

To use snooker as an example look at Jimmy White at the world championships?

I feel that it may be too early to tar Rose as another "always the bridesmaid" case. People did it with Nigel Mansell and ate their words, they may still do so with Monty, you just never know, elite sport is so tight with such small margins between glorious triumph and abject failure.

I think at the moment he is a bit of a choker a la Garcia but things change.