by Jeff Skinner
Believe it or not, Justin Rose was born in South Africa. We know him as an Englishman as he did grow up in England but now he lives in Florida. But I think he may like to summer in the Mid-Atlantic section of the United States.
Last year in Philadelphia he was the last man staining at the U.S. Open when he topped the field at a brutal Merion. This week just down I-95 a bit he survived another tough test at Congressional to take the Quicken Loans National.
Rose outlasted third round leader Patrick Reed and topped Shawn Stefani in a playoff to win for the first time since that U.S. Open victory. 
Rose started the day three back of Reed and nearly killed his chances on the 72nd hole. He teed off on eighteen with a one stroke lead but he hit his approach from the trees into the pond to the left of the green. It looked like big trouble for the 33 year old.
After his penalty drop he chipped past the hole and needed to drop a fifteen foot putt to salvage a bogey. It’s odd to call that putt clutch after he rinsed his approach but that is just what it was, clutch.
In the playoff Rose watched as Stefani took the exact same route as he did, via the pond on eighteen. All Rose needed to do was hit the green and two putt for a sure win. He did just that for his sixth PGA Tour win.
It was Rose’s fifth straight season with at least one tour win. Only Phil Mickelson (10) and Dustin Johnson (7) have longer streaks.
Rose spoke of the difficulty on Congressional and his penchant for playing tough courses well, “I think Congressional got its reputation back after the U.S. Open, for sure. I was excited to play this golf course this week,” Rose said. “I really enjoy this type of golf and this kind of test. And it tested all of us.”
John Feinstein was on the spot on Saturday with this story on Rose on Golf Channel.com. Rose’s gap between wins was longer than he would have liked “It’s a longer spell than I’d like but I’ve had chances,” he said. “It’s not like this is the first chance I’ve had for a while. I know I’ll have a chance in the near future again, too. I know that if I’m playing well, I’ll create plenty of chances. I feel like my season is only really beginning to get going.”
It certainly got going today. Rose is back in that summer groove, the I-95 groove.
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