Rose Blooming in America

A week is a long time in sport. Less than a week ago, my own Armchair Athlete view was that the South American teams were the mostly likely to prevail in the World Cup quarter finals. What do I know, eh?

This week really was seven days of ups and downs for Justin Rose. Having led through 54 holes, Rose was looking good for a second successive victory on the USPGA Tour at the Travellers Championship. He missed out there, but made sure lightning didn't strike twice - winning the AT&T National with a final round of 70.

It's been a remarkable season for Rose thus far. Having taken his first victory for three years by winning the Memorial Tournament, the 29 year old then failed to qualify for the US Open, before continuing his rich vein of form across the pond.

His success this year has been a long time coming for a man who burst onto the scene in such dramatic fashion. Rose finished fourth as an amateur in the Open Championship 12 years ago, promptly went professional and missed 21 cuts in a row. Far from an ideal start to a career.

In tow of his two wins and the slip up at the Travellers Championship, Rose has finished second in the Honda Classic and his now moved up into 16th in the World Rankings. He is playing his way into Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup squad, and even if he doesn't accrue enough points, you've got to fancy Monty will pick a player who is in the form of his life.

Rose will be at the Open Championship at St Andrews in 9 days time trying to better that fourth place finish that got things started. The way he's playing at the moment, I wouldn't bet against him coming away from Scotland with a first major title.