Englishman Rose rises to the top of The Race to Dubai rankings after US Open win

Justin Rose’s maiden major victory at the 113th US Open at Merion has fired the 32 year-old Englishman to the top of The Race to Dubai rankings and confirmed his place at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in November.

Rose finished runner-up in the $8 million tournament (courtesy Getty Images).

Moving up from 25th place to lead The Race to Dubai, which will reach a thrilling conclusion with the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from 14-17 November, Rose is the first Englishman to win a Major in 17 years and the first Englishman to lift the US Open trophy in 43 years.

Runner-up at last year’s DP World Tour Championship, including a final round, Earth course record 62, Rose admitted his heart-breaking loss to Rory McIlroy just eight months ago in Dubai was on his mind as he waited for play to finish at Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia.

“I didn’t want to be premature with any celebration out of respect for Phil (Mickelson) as he’s a world class player and can pull a rabbit out of the hat at any point,” said Rose after edging four-time Major champion Mickelson and Australia’s Jason Day to win by two shots on one over par.

“I learned a tough lesson at the end of last year in Dubai. I finished my round and in a sense celebrated as if I thought I had won the tournament but Rory finished with five straight birdies to beat me by two shots. At the US Open, I felt good that I had done enough and that’s why I was emotional – I felt like I had given everything but I didn’t want to be hugging and celebrating until it was official.”

Last year Rose delighted the packed galleries at the DP World Tour Championship and is sure to be a firm favourite again in 2013 when The European Tour’s top 60 players descend on the $8 million tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Victory at the US Open has moved Rose into third place on the Official World Golf Ranking and is a fitting reward for a player considered among the most consistent in the world over the past two years and one of many European Tour members tipped for major success.

“There’s been a very strong crop of English players for quite some time now with myself, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter and I really hope it inspires them,” he added. “I think it was always going to be matter of time before one of us broke through and obviously I always hoped I was going to be the first.”

European Tour International Director, Dubai Office Nick Tarratt said: “Every one of us is delighted for Justin on his first major victory. It has been a long time coming and fully deserved. It’s always exciting to have our European Tour members challenging for major titles on the final day and we wish our members well for The Open Championship next month and the remainder of The Race to Dubai.”

Free tickets for the four-day DP World Tour Championship – the culmination of 46 tournaments in 25 destinations and featuring the top 60 players on The European Tour – can be obtained by registering online at the event website www.DPWTC.com.