World number two Justin Rose resisted the temptation to “cannonball” into the lake during the Miracle of Medinah, but he may get another chance if Europe regain the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National.
The 15th and 18th holes are lined by water and provide a testing finish in any tournament, never mind the most high-pressure environment in golf.
After holing a birdie putt on the 17th at Medinah in his remarkable fightback against Phil Mickelson, the 38-year-old said he had the urge to throw himself into the lake, but still had the final hole to win.
Six years on the newly-crowned FedEx Cup champion could get the opportunity to fulfil that desire if Europe wrest back the trophy.
“The putt on 17 was, yeah, unbelievable, and that’s what kind of people remember,” said Rose recalling his 2012 singles match against Mickelson, where he was one down with three to play, holed a 10-footer for par, a monster birdie on 17 and birdied the last for the win.
“But that only got me all-square, so my funny reaction of waddling up there and not really going crazy (was because) inside I wanted to, you know, cannonball into the lake.
“I remember consciously walking as slowly as I could to get the ball out of the hole.
“The putt I was most proud of was 18 to finish it off, and that’s not necessarily remembered or talked about it, but as a player, to make it on the one that’s on 18, that’s the one that counts.”
Should Rose be tempted to launch himself into the water, however, he should be mindful of what befell Frenchman Thomas Levet, who celebrated winning his home Open in 2011 on this course by jumping into the lake and sustaining a broken shin.
The Englishman landed in Paris 10million US dollars richer after winning the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour.
However, he insists he has already put that behind him to focus on this week, although some of his team-mates are apparently still keen to remind him of his newly-gotten wealth.
“Yeah, the team have had fun – apparently all the drinks are on my tab this week. We’ve been having fun with it,” he added.
“I’ve really tried to curb the FedEx Cup. For me it finished on the plane. I enjoyed the ride over, but once I landed in Paris I was one of 12 guys. I didn’t want it to carry over into this week. This week is about another job to do.
“I’ve been playing consistently well. Ultimately the way I won the FedEx Cup was through my consistency season-long, and that obviously does give you confidence coming into this week.
“There will be moments I can draw upon that this week when trying to deliver for Team Europe.
“I think for me now, I can shelve that for another week or so. I will certainly enjoy but I’d like to maybe start that party on Sunday night for the right reasons.”
