Published>Thu, Aug 05 10 12:38 AM
England can take pride from having six players ranked in the world's top 20, but Britain's Justin Rose would much prefer it if that impressive ratio could be translated into major success.
No Englishman has won a major title since Nick Faldo clinched the 1996 U.S. Masters, although former European number one Lee Westwood has come agonisingly close in recent years.
"Major championships are the next level for the English players who have been playing very well," Rose told reporters on the eve of this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.
"To go ahead and knock off one of the big ones will move the needle for that individual. As a group, we're very strong but it's who's going to rise up to that next challenge."
Westwood, who has recorded top-three finishes in four of the last five majors, is ranked third in the world with fellow Englishmen Luke Donald seventh, Paul Casey ninth, Ian Poulter 10th, Rose 19th and Ross Fisher 20th.
"It's cool as a collective group to see the potential and the talent coming through," said Rose who reached a career-high sixth in the rankings after the 2008 St. Jude Classic.
"I think we'd expect to have a lot of players, or a good number of players, in the top 50 but to have as many as we have in the top 10 in the world is amazing right now.
"For a while our world rankings were very strong without (the players) necessarily winning tournaments, but in the last year or so that's translated into wins which is the important thing," added the 30-year-old.
WINNING WAVE
Rose has been in the thick of that winning wave, claiming two PGA Tour titles this year in just three starts to crown his most successful season on the U.S. circuit.
"The mindset I have right now is how good can I be as a player and what can I learn every single week going forward?" said the Briton, a four-times winner on the European Tour.
"I don't want to put a ceiling on it but getting the monkey off my back at Memorial helped me achieve that mindset."
Rose won his first PGA Tour title at the Memorial tournament in June and then blew a three-stroke lead to crash out of the Travelers Championship in his next start before winning the AT&T National the following week.
"It was easier for me to accept what happened at the Travelers, having had a win under my belt," he said. "I lost a tournament, but I'm still improving as a player.
"I turned up at the AT&T on Monday morning a better player because of what I had just been through. That's what I was most excited about."
The next two weeks provide added incentive for Rose to return to winning ways. Firestone hosts the last of the season's three elite World Golf Championships events in the United States before the final major of the year, the U.S. PGA Championship, takes place at Whistling Straits.
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