THE 154TH OPEN

July 14, 2026

Justin Rose

Press Conference

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be joined here today by Justin Rose. Justin, we all know how much The Open means to you, but how nice is it to be back here competing in The Open on English soil?

JUSTIN ROSE: Obviously very nice to be back at Birkdale especially, nice to be at an Open in England, and nice to be at one where the sun is going to shine all week as well.

Obviously the stage is set for a great week. Yeah, very excited about this one for sure.

Q. As you sit here now, how long ago does '98 feel and the chip-in? And just curious as a follow to that, when you missed all those cuts, do you remember what was going through your mind at that point? Obviously you're not as mature as you are now, and you probably wondered where your career was going.

JUSTIN ROSE: Obviously '98 does feel like a long, long, long time ago. I feel like there's different iterations or editions of me as a golfer since then, so different spells of my career that I kind of chunk into probably five-, ten-year chunks. There's been quite a few of those moments that have gone under the bridge since '98, good and bad.

This is the third time I've been back to Birkdale since '98, so obviously it's always going to be a special place for me at Royal Birkdale. It's always going to sort of bring back those memories of that kid chipping in and all the magical feelings I experienced that week of the crowd getting behind me, sort of a true underdog story. The fact that it was my last event as an amateur, holing that shot to seal off my amateur career was as cool a moment as I could have had.

To answer that part of your question, all those cuts later, yeah, there was a moment in time where -- I never wanted to regret having holed that shot, but I think that shot made my transition into pro golf a little bit harder just from an expectation point of view. A bunch of missed cuts into it, I felt like you had to take stock, and I had to sort of really evaluate who I was, what my goals were, how realistic they might be.

I think really hi to sort of separate myself from the result at The Open Championship to kind of put a clear head on my shoulders and kind of grind through and realize a career is a long time. My basic and very simple equation was, yeah, I was a talented golfer, had a great amateur career. It wasn't like The Open was the only thing I could hinge my future on. If I look back at my whole amateur career, it was strong.

So I clearly said to myself, right, you're a talented golfer; you couple that with hard work and just stick at it. I had to separate myself from The Open week but put myself into hard work and believe I was good enough.

Q. Any big plans for watching the match tomorrow night?

JUSTIN ROSE: I was kind of hoping for a later tee time. Actually 9:30 isn't too bad unless England -- actually, I'd take a win on penalties if it happened, but obviously we're looking for a short, sharp match and a reasonable bedtime.

Obviously we're going to be watching. But at the same time, I'm going to watch it with an eye on what's important for me as well and not get too high and low and keep my own emotions in check. We've got big things as well to do this week, but at the same time, it's a match where if you think that you're not going to watch it, you're probably kidding yourself.

Obviously I'll be rooting the boys on, but at the same time, trying to make sure I'm able to sort of rest up pretty soon after the match.

Q. How has the course evolved since '98, and what did you make of the new changes since 2017?

JUSTIN ROSE: A links course is interesting because you never really, I don't think, get to know them that well. You can have different Open Championships -- like 2008, I think it was, yeah. Weather was dreadful. It was wet. Course played completely different. You might have been hitting 2-irons and 3-woods into par-4s, and now you could be flicking 52-degree wedges in. A golf course can play so differently decade to decade when we come back that you never really get to know the course, I don't think, that well.

As I come back here in 2026, I don't have a really, really strong memory of how each hole plays or should play. I don't have a preconceived idea of how the holes should play because some years it's firm, some years it's soft. That's why my answer is what course would you want to play the rest of your career, my answer to that would be a links course because they can play so differently, one, day to day but certainly year to year.

I think the changes look great. The bunkering, it's a very narrow golf course off the tee. I think the rough is burning out, so there is an opportunity for players if they want to feel like they can sort of hit it over corners and potentially run through and just accept 60 to 80 yards out of the rough, that play is there. So you might see a varying -- a varied bunch of strategies.

I think ultimately I feel it's playing like a classic links where you play it, you try to run it up as close as you can to the pot bunkers, and play mid to short irons into the greens. Obviously you just rely upon good strategic golf and putting to the corners and hopefully making a few putts. That's sort of how I see the course right now.

Q. Of all The Opens that you've played, and I mean the ones on this side, our Open, rather than including the U.S. Open, of all those, could you give us two things that you have learned about them that are really important?

JUSTIN ROSE: Are you saying including both Opens? Just ours?

Q. Just ours.

JUSTIN ROSE: Sorry. I think sort of relying upon the home crowd, I think that sort of knowing that there is a bit of an X factor to that. I think that trusting -- not using it as a pressure, but sort of playing with, I feel like, a sense of freedom with the crowd. I think the crowd really kick in when you're on the leaderboard. There's that real sort of energy that they provide. I think it's having a bit of an ace up your sleeve.

You can't force it. Thursday, Friday, you've got to play very much with your own patience. You can't have that weight of expectation about being a home player, but I think there is something special about a home player on the leaderboard when the crowd get behind you. I think that can be worth a shot or two down the stretch that can keep you going. It can help you, if you make a mistake, help you get over it a bit quicker in a big moment. That's kind of what I've learned.

Yeah, obviously links golf, just kind of keep creative, sort of really try to -- the vagaries of links golf. You can't judge every single bounce perfectly, but you sort of have to accept the nature of a links golf course. There's going to be some good bounces, bad bounces. I think just keep playing with a bit of freedom and creativity, especially this week.

The ball is going to slip off the edges of some greens. You're going to get a few funny bounces here or there. That's all part of it.

I think there's no particular -- today, I was just -- there's so many different ways to play chip shots. I think as pros we love to be prepared. Really to answer your question, it's we love to be prepared. I think ultimately at an Open Championship, your preparation needs to be -- you can't perfect something. Play with creativity and play in the moment. Just play with a lot of flair in the moment. See a shot, bump and run. You might not have practised it, you might not have hit that shot for a long, long time, but if you see it, go with it.

Q. There's been a lot of noise about crowd behaviors at big events over the last year or so. This week there's a code of conduct for spectators. Just wondered your thoughts on that and if you think that's a good idea.

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I think it's a good idea within reason. I think we do want crowds to turn up in force. We want our game to be supported in the best possible way. We want people to come out and have a good time. I do think we have to accept that we are somewhat entertainers as well as part of the business side of golf, but at the same time, I think these biggest championships, you want them to be -- you want the best player to come out of it, and you want sort of the structure of the tournament to be only decided upon who's played the best golf, not sort of other moments and other factors that can kind of become more heated down the stretch.

There can be storylines and narratives that can sort of come through the course of a week or that might be fan favourites or not that can kind of -- down the stretch, there's other factors that can come to the boil. Obviously for a historic major like this, it would be nice for it to just feel like it's pretty neutral playing ground and decided by the best player on the day.

So from that point of view, yeah, if we can keep it in that realm, I think it's a great thing. I guess there's player codes of conduct now too, in terms of two-shot penalties for whatever it might be, whatever is deemed to be bad behaviour. So I guess it's across the board.

Q. You've played for a long time now. I'm just wondering if you've noticed any sort of changes in crowd behaviour from when you started to where we are now? Not just at The Open but just in general.

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I haven't noticed it at The Open to be fair, but maybe Brian Harman wasn't perfectly treated last time around. I think typically, what we love about The Open is the value of a good shot is very much respected here. You don't have to hit it to three feet to get a round of applause. I think that's what players really like, hitting a really good shot with a cross-wind to 15, 20 feet, the crowd really acknowledge that, and I think that's one of the things we love the most about this tournament.

Things have changed. Things have evolved. I think it's access to all of us, access to social media, and obviously how every little thing out there becomes a little viral clip, and obviously that proliferates far and wide. Therefore, I think, people have access to how they've seen moments unfold on the golf course or other behaviours, crowds behaving, and it becomes the norm. Everything becomes normalised.

I'm not really answering the question that well, but I think I think it's just the way of the world at the moment for sure. Everything is much more accessible. People feel like they're a lot more part of the moment and can influence the moment. We know about sports betting. We know about this whole other narrative, and people are coming much closer -- more closely involved, I think, in the outcome.

Q. You've been a pretty regular in the Scottish Open over the years. How difficult was the decision to sit it out this time, and what did you feel you got from last week by not being at the Renaissance Club?

JUSTIN ROSE: It's an event I love playing, but I had a four-week run in America. I played the Canadian Open prior to the U.S. Open, and that meant it was four weeks in a row, and there just wasn't enough of a gap to add in the Scottish as well. It was literally a numbers game at the end of the day and chose to play this time around Canada instead of Scottish Open. That was kind of the logic behind it.

I think it's given me a couple of lovely weeks at home for sure. The sun has been shining. Obviously there's a lot of great sport going on in the country as well. So from just enjoying being back, a bit of Wimbledon, a bit of F1, a bit of practice, a bit of all the things that you want to do at home, I just felt like I needed the extra week on this occasion.

Q. Just wondering on equipment. This is obviously your third major since making the switch to McLaren earlier in the year. I was wondering if you feel fairly used to the clubs now or if there are any tweaks you've had to make to your game or if there are any tweaks you notice yourself subtly making?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I'm really enjoying the equipment, enjoying the process, enjoying the whole project. I'm excited about the future. I think we're continually refining, and I'm very, very happy. The set of irons that I'm using are kind of -- they're a byproduct of all the things that I want to see in a set of golf clubs.

Obviously it's a small equipment manufacturer right now, so we can kind of turn things around quickly, make little changes. Really it's like my own little golf company right now. It's been a lot of fun.

I think that I have preferences in terms of shape and sole and all the little things I've liked from some clubs and then I've taken another that I like from other clubs, and I've been able to blend it all into one set of clubs for me.

Yeah, the McLaren Series 1 irons are the way I see golf essentially. When you look down at something, it tells a story. For me at address and at setup, everything is looking great, and the performance is fantastic.

A set of irons is a fairly easy switch to make, like I said, even in the short term. I've used multiple sets of clubs, different brands over the last few years, and I think irons are quite -- they are personal, but at the same time, it's a relatively easy switch.

There's a couple of things you need to see. You need to see good ball speed and you need to see good spin numbers. As long as those two parameters are there, you can really trust your game. So I felt like I hit the ground running from that point of view.

Q. You said just now you could sort of split your career into five-, ten-year chunks. With that in mind, how would you define this stage of your career you're in now?

JUSTIN ROSE: Certainly a little resurgence for sure. I feel like I'm really enjoying the challenge of staying elite with my game. I'm really enjoying the opportunities and the moments I'm creating and the memories I'm creating through those moments. That's kind of my driver, whether that be holing a putt on a Friday at Ryder Cup or having chances to win major championships.

Yeah, listen, it does come down to results at the end of the day, but also in the moment really, a result is fantastic. Scottie Scheffler might have said this last year, maybe at this tournament, that you sort of do look at yourself a week or two later, and you're suddenly into the next stretch of tournaments, and that result -- you can't be defined or live and die by the result.

So I'm trying to see it as moments. Am I playing golf for the right moments? Am I creating memories? And are those memories worth the sacrifice? Because as I get older, I think it's taking more of me. I'm having to be more disciplined than I've ever been to stay at the level of golf I want to be at, and I'm enjoying that challenge. I feel like I can keep pushing. I feel like I can keep going with that narrative as long as possible.

Certainly in the moment I feel inspired, and yeah, I'm enjoying that challenge.

Q. Have you made any equipment changes this week as far as performing on links golf compared to playing in America?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I feel like I'm contemplating putting a 3-iron in so a 2-iron, 3-iron, and 4-iron. Typically when I'm playing in America I've got up to 4-iron and then a 7-wood into a 3-wood. Typically I think my 7 was going to come out of the bag this week and a 2-iron is going to go in. But I feel like that does leave me a bit of a gap on certain par-4s where you're wanting to push the ball up as far as you can towards the bunkers. So I'm feeling a 3-iron as well as a 4-iron and 2-iron. I feel like I need all of the long irons, which means I've got to drop a wedge somewhere.

So I haven't quite figured out yet exactly how I'm going to sort of approach the bag. Yeah, it is a big adjustment, and I think -- historically -- the last sort of year or so, I've gone very much just with one bounce and I've just been adjusting to it the different tournaments, but I think this tournament does require a slight shift to a lower bounce wedge as well.

Q. Justin, I just wonder how you view your career in reality compared to what 1998 career you would have envisaged when you turned pro?

JUSTIN ROSE: It is a really good question, and it's almost an impossible answer, but the only way to answer it is would I want to do it again and think I could do better? I think I'd probably pass. I'd probably say I'll let the chips -- I'll stay. I'll stick.

I've had a very good career. 28 years later I'm playing in The Open Championship. I think, if I think about that, that is still -- that's an amazing achievement, I think. Just to kind of have the will to keep wanting to be here, I think, more than anything.

Obviously we've seen with Adam Scott recently his longevity and the opportunity to play in these tournaments year after year doesn't come easily. I'm still -- yeah, I'm very happy with where I'm at. Could I have done more? Could I have won more of what I've already won? Yes. Would I love to be a multiple major champion? Yes. Do I feel I could have pushed towards close to a grand slam? Yes. I've had results that nearly put me in that realm. So a little bit of luck here and there, I could be sitting here with a very different career.

But ultimately, if I look at it, I got to world No. 1. I'm a major champion, Olympic gold medalist, FedExCup. I've kind of achieved pretty much what there is to achieve in the game, albeit once only. But the highlights are great. Would I have just wanted more of it? Of course. Everyone's greedy.

But if I had to make a choice, there's a lot of sideways and backwards moves available out here on Tour. Falling down a set of stairs, doing something stupid, whatever it might be, circumstance, life, there's a lot of things that can get in your way over a 28-year career.

Hopefully I can really use that freedom of being comfortable to work with where I'm at to elevate myself somehow over the next few years to achieve the heights that I just talked about still. So I'm certainly by no means resting on my laurels.

Q. Would a rookie you have put The Open Championship at the top of the list of priorities, and how do you adjust those priorities as you sort of advance through your professional career?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, The Open Championship for a British player is the pinnacle of the game for sure. It's the one that I would love to win the most, I think, for sure. Obviously given my history, even going back to sort of being 14 and coming up to -- trying to qualify for the St Andrews Open and coming up to final qualifying as a 14-year-old, I've always had a real passion for The Open Championship.

Yeah, to step through my career and not have a jug at the end of it, yeah, I'll always look back at it and go, yeah, that's a shame. But I think The Open Championship offers you the longest runway of an opportunity to win one. So there's plenty of time left.

Q. You spoke about the resurgence in your career, which is obviously extraordinary. You had a great chance at winning the Masters only just a couple of months ago. In general the work that you put in to stay as competitive as you are 28 years on from finishing fourth here, what's the mental strength that you have, and how have you found it? Because so many players don't get that well into their 40s. How much more of a driving force is it for you to make that Ryder Cup team at Adare Manor in 2027?

JUSTIN ROSE: I think underpinning the work ethic, you've got to keep a love for it. The minute you don't have a love for it, the work feels like work, and the minute the work feels like work, the motivation will soon dwindle. I think for me that's the biggest building block I need to have. The most important brick in the wall is do I still love it.

Sometimes the simplest way for me to measure that is can I go play golf by myself in the evening, carry my own clubs, lengthening shadows, and have a good time. If the answer to that is yes, then I go, okay, well, that's a good start; now I can work hard. What are my goals? What do I still believe I can achieve?

I'm always just pushing against myself really. I think that I'm always curious. I'm competitive. I still think "curious" and "competitive" are two good words to kind of keep me going. I'm not really sure what I'm capable of achieving, but I'm competitive, so I'm going to give it a go. I try to be very process driven as well. What are the areas of my game? What are the gaps that I can fill? And I still see plenty. So that's kind of motivating.

Q. Just about Adare and the lure of Adare?

JUSTIN ROSE: Of course. My attitude to Ryder Cup is if I'm playing well enough, then you want to be on the team. Do you know what I mean? Pushing to make the team, making it a flat-out goal to make the team is not my primary objective. My primary objective is for the team to win, and I feel like if I'm playing well enough to earn points, then I want to be on the team.

It's all about for me to be in a spot where I can contribute to the team. Making the team is never my objective; it's winning points for the team. That's the only thing I think about when it gets close to being Ryder Cup time. Am I getting my game to the point where I can go and win points for the team.

I feel like if that's the case, then I'll be on the team. So I don't push to make the team; I push to be playing well enough to contribute to the team.

Q. You referenced watching the football on Wednesday but limiting your emotional involvement in it. How does that work? Do you have the sound off? What's happening?

JUSTIN ROSE: I don't know. Going to have to figure it out, aren't we? It's probably a futile kind of exercise, isn't it. It's going to be a hard-fought game, and it's going to probably be a nail biter. I can only try, though (laughter).