At first you probably had to wonder why the heck Justin Rose was traveling all the way to Indonesia this time of year.
That’s quite a haul from Albany, in the Bahamas, where Rose and his family live.
First thing you have to consider is that perhaps, the Asian Tour paid him a monstrous appearance fee to show up at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club and compete against a bunch of guys whose last names take up 11 or 12 letters.
This has been one heck of a final three months for Rose. The guy’s had nine straight top 10 finishes.
A quick look at the field and you knew Rose was a cinch to make it 10 straight top 10s. No problem.
It was painfully obvious from day one that Rose just might crush the field. After all, his biggest competition might have been Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who you may or may not know. He’s a chubby, very chubby kid from Thailand who has played his way into the top 60 in the world rankings.
Rose, currently ranked sixth in the world, played like it. He took the Royale Jakarta track apart on day one with a 10-under par 62. He pretty much put the rest of the field on notice that basically second place was available for the taking.
He gave them a break with a second round 69, started pulling away with a 66 on moving day then crushed everyone with nine birdies, an eagle and one bogey over the final round for a closing 62 and a mind-boggling 29-under par winning total.
Let’s say that again — a 29-under par winning total.
“To finish the year on a good note and still have a couple of weeks to enjoy this win over Christmas and New Year is really nice,” Rose said. “To come here with my game in good shape, have the deal with bad weather and jetlag and stay focused on all four rounds, is something that I am really pleased about. I have had a dream week and I have played incredible golf.”
Yes, the bad weather.
This course was inundated with rain nearly every round, suspensions of play, lift-clean-and-place rules, a total soggy mess.
Delays forced Rose to play 28 holes the final day. Didn’t matter at all.
He went out and simply posted the biggest romp of his career. He ended up winning by eight shots, his largest career margin of victory.
Second place went to 18-year-old Pachara Khongwatmai. Try saying that name 10 times really fast.
Rose now takes some time off and he’s probably out to make a point this coming season.
He started off the majors really well last year with a runnerup at The Masters. But then it turned pretty miserable with a missed cut at the U.S. Open, a tie for 54th at the Open Championship and a missed cut at the PGA.
With what he’s done to finish this season, you’d think he should be a factor anytime he tees it up in 2018.
In the meantime, 29-under is a pretty good sendoff for Christmas.
