Is Justin Rose The Best English Golfer Of The 21st Century?

Rose just keeps adding accolates to his already-decorated career

Is Justin Rose The Best English Golfer Of The 21st Century?

Justin Rose continues to show his class and has now established himself as the finest English golfer of the 21st century and perhaps his generation.

The 38-year-old adds the FedEx Cup trophy to a phenomenal list of achievements that include a US Open trophy, Olympic Gold Medal, two Ryder Cup victories, an Open Silver Medal, the World Number One position, a European Tour Order of Merit, two WGC titles and 22 wins as a pro in total.

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"I think as a kid I would have said I'm a major champion, that was the most important to me," he said after his FedEx Cup triumph.

"The Olympic gold medal has become as important to me just based upon people's reaction to it and how special it's felt.

"Reaching world No. 1, again, in recent weeks has become a third string to my bow if I'm to simplify my career.

"And now FedExCup champion would be right there. I know have a four-string guitar. I'm now a base player.

"Hopefully, I can kind of add a few more strings. Would be nice to end up with a harp. Yeah, this is obviously right up there with everything I've achieved."

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Rose has established himself as Europe's best golfer over the past 18 months, featuring a spell of over 365 days without missing a cut and has 20 top-10 finishes since the start of the 2017 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Since that date, the 27th August 2017, Rose has won the WGC-HSBC Champions, the Turkish Airlines Open, Indonesian Masters and Fort Worth Invitational.

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He wrapped up the FedEx Cup with finishes of 2nd, 2nd and T4th in the final three events.

How does Rose compare to other English golfers in the 21st century?

If you make a case for Rose being England's best player over the past 18 years, you can only really compare him with two players: Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.

All three men reached the World Number One position, with Rose's spell lasting two weeks, Westwood's 22 weeks and Donald's 56 weeks.

However, neither Westwood, 45, or Donald, 40, have won a major as of yet, and Rose's 2013 US Open victory plus his Olympic Gold put him clear of the pack.

He is also the only one of the three to lift the FedEx Cup or a WGC title (he has two).

On the other hand, Westwood does have 20 more professional titles than Rose, and has won 23 times on the European Tour to Rose's 11.

Perhaps a more telling stat is, though, that Rose has 11 PGA Tour victories to Westwood's two.

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Donald has more PGA Tour titles than Westwood with five, but has five less pro wins than Rose in total.

Justin is one of just two English major winners this century, with Danny Willett's 2016 Masters triumph and Rose's US Open title at Merion the only two English majors.

Nick Faldo's 1996 Masters win was the most recent English major win before those two. It is safe to say that Rose is the best English player since Faldo.

Faldo won six majors, 41 pro titles and spent 97 weeks as world number one.

Whilst Rose cannot compare to Faldo in terms of achievements, he recently told the European Tour's Life on Tour Podcast that he has the chance to turn a good career into a 'great' one.

He may well get close to Faldo's major tally if he carries on his form for the next five or so year, he certainly has the talent and grit to do so.

The five best English golfers of the 21st century in stats:

Turned pro

Rose - 1998 Westwood - 1993 Donald - 2001 Casey - 2000 Poulter - 1995

Pro wins -

Rose - 22 Westwood - 42 Donald - 17 Casey - 18 Poulter - 17

European Tour titles -

Rose - 11 Westwood - 23 Donald - 7 Casey - 13 Poulter - 12

European Tour earnings -

Rose - €25.6m (6th all-time) Westwood - €35m (2nd) Donald - €17.9 (17th) Casey - €16.2 (21st) Poulter - €24.9m (8th)

PGA Tour titles -

Rose - 9 Westwood - 2 Donald - 5 Casey - 2 Poulter - 3

PGA Tour earnings -

Rose - $49m (6th all-time) Westwood - $19.2m Donald - $36m (20th) Casey - $25.6m Poulter - $22.8m

Majors -

Rose - 1 Westwood - 0 Donald - 0 Casey - 0 Poulter - 0

WGC titles -

Rose - 2 Westwood - 0 Donald - 1 Casey - 0 Poulter - 2