Victory helps Justin Rose sneek past Ernie Els to top the European Tour Order of Merit.
TaylorMade-adidas Golf Tour Staff Professional Justin Rose Wins Volvo Masters to Clinch 2007 Order of Merit Title Win Places Rose on Top of European Team's Ryder Cup Points List : Moves up to Seventh in World Rankings
CARLSBAD, Calif. (November 5, 2007) -TaylorMade-adidas Golf Tour Staff professional Justin Rose sank a 12-foot birdie
putt on the second playoff hole to capture the Volvo Masters. With the win, Rose overtook the top position on the 2007 European Order of Merit to win the season-long title and hoist the Harry Vardon Trophy.
"This moment, I've been really hoping it would come all week long. It's emotional. It was a hard day," Rose said.
"This is just an amazing icing on the cake for an incredible year. It's a huge honor to be the Order of Merit Champion, the European No. 1. So, huge year for me. It's been a long road to get here, but I feel great."
He topped the 2007 money list with $4,276,062 after 12 tournaments, the fewest played by any champion in the Tour's modern history.
Rose started fast at the Volvo Masters with a hole-in-one on the third hole during the first round. He scored the ace with a TaylorMade® racTM TP six-iron on the 179-meter when his TaylorMade Tour Preferred (TP) Black ball found the cup. It was Rose's second hole-in-one this fall, after he deposited his TP BlackTM for an ace during the third at the Barclays Championship on August 25.
"At the top of its flight I said 'go' and when it landed I said 'in' and it disappeared," Rose said of his hole-in-one.
In addition to the TP Black ball, Rose used the r7® quad driver, r7 three wood and rac TP irons en route to his 1-under par 283 and playoff victory at the Volvo Masters held at Valderrama.
"I think personally, the Order of Merit has been an amazing achievement for me and wasn't a goal of mine at start of the year but very much did become a goal of mine," Rose said. "I could see I was making progress fast up the Order of Merit by playing well in the majors and when I finished second in the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, made a big check there, I began to realize it was a possibility, because I knew I was coming back to The European Tour in September to play, you know, three or four events at the end of the year."
Rose played well in the 2007 majors, finishing tied for fifth at The Masters, tied for 10th at the U.S. Open, tied for 12th at The Open Championship and tied for 12th at the PGA Championship. In addition, he tied for fifth at the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship and was runner-up at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
TaylorMade was the #1 played driver and iron at the Volvo Masters and the TaylorMade TP golf balls were the second-most played ball during the tournament.*
In Rose's bag:
TaylorMade r7 quad
TaylorMade r7 3-wood
TaylorMade rac TP irons (3-9)
TaylorMade TP Black ball
adidas Golf footwear
adidas Golf ClimaCool® apparel
*Worldwide Tour count based on Darrell Survey and Sports Marketing Surveys, Ltd. counts on the PGA, European, Japan, Nationwide, LPGA and Champions Tours. Claims regarding usage at 2007 Volvo Masters based on Sports Marketing Surveys, Ltd. counts.