Justin Rose uses loss as a lesson

There seemed little reason to think Justin Rose would not finish the deal last weekend in the Travelers Championship and win for the second consecutive time on the PGA Tour after having gone 0 for 143 in tour events.

But golf is a funny game, and we don't mean ha-ha funny.

Entering the final round with a 3-stroke edge, Rose got uncharacteristically sloppy Sunday, lost the lead for good on the 12th hole, double-bogeyed the 15th, and struggled to a 75 – his worst round, by 5 strokes, among his last eight.

The shocking fall from an almost-certain victory to a tie for ninth could have been shattering for Rose, but he took it as a valuable lesson that he will put to use starting Thursday when he tees it up in the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club.

"It depends how you choose to view these things," Rose said Tuesday after joining West Chester's Sean O'Hair at nearby Waynesborough Country Club for a clinic attended by about 300 youths in the First Tee programs throughout the area.

"I feel like I'm a better player for it. I actually learned an awful lot on Sunday about what happened and what went wrong. And I would have continued to have made those mistakes. . . . I wouldn't have realized some of the things I learned.

"I got a little tight, got a little bit out of my rhythm, and it's amazing the ramifications that can have. So I really have learned a lot based on what happened on Sunday."

Rose, 29, who lives in London but also has a home in Lake Nona, Fla., began his stretch of fine play in the Memorial Tournament, firing a final-round 66 for his first Tour victory June 6 after more than six years of trying.

Although he failed to qualify for the U.S. Open, Rose discovered no change in his game whatsoever through three rounds of the Travelers. He opened 64-62 and followed with a 68 that he thought could have been better had a few putts dropped.

The Sunday round hurt, but judging from what Rose said Tuesday, it won't have a lasting effect.

"Getting that win under my belt [in the Memorial], it softens the blow of last Sunday, for sure," he said. "Yeah, I wanted to win. It would have been great to win two in a row. But it's not about, for me really, how many I win right now. It's how good I can get as a player."

Rose hopes to restore the positive momentum this week at Aronimink. He played nine holes Tuesday before leaving for the clinic, and called the course "fantastic, a real treat."

"For me, I joked that it's my U.S. Open because I missed Pebble Beach," he said. "It's got that U.S. Open feel to it, with the thick rough, sloping greens. The fairways aren't that narrow, but it's a great test."

If he finds himself in contention again, Rose will have something to draw upon.

"I've got to look at it as that's a strength now," he said. "It makes me a better player. My game is not going anywhere overnight, so just keep chipping away, keep putting myself in that position, and it'll all come out good."