Justin Rose Wins the 2013 US Open

Justin Rose, a guy who we picked as a dark horse to win this event in last week’s fantasy odds and predictions, jumped to the top of golf stardom yesterday with his +1 victory at the 113th US Open.   Another one of our top-5 picks, Phil Mickelson, finished runner up in what could have been an epic playoff duel if he had made a chip shot on 18 to send the tournament into bonus rounds.  Instead, Phil flew the ball past the hole and missed his par to finish T2 at +3.

As Justin Rose stepped up to the 18th tee box, he heard a fan roar something that made him think a bit. “Someone had chirped from the crowd ‘Rose, a good iron shot, two putts and its yours.’ And in a sense that was all I was trying to do at that point.”

After sinking his par on 18, Rose stepped back and looked to the sky where he pointed to the clouds and mouthed words of praise and gratitude to his late father, who Rose claims was watching down on him all week – especially on this exciting Father’s Day close.   Rose wiped the tears from his eyes while watching his playing partner Luke Donald finish off his round.

“I couldn’t help but look up to the heavens and think that my old dad, Ken, had something to do with it.”

After the tournament concluded with Mickelson’s putt, Rose celebrated his first major win in 37 career major starts. The drought has finally ended for the Englishman and the win has changed his status on the PGA TOUR.  Jumping 30 spots to 6th place in FedExCup points, the victory moves Rose to 3rd place in the World Golf Rankings.

Here’s a recap of the final round of the 2013 US Open at Merion Golf Club: