Veteran Els gives Rose advice on coping with stardom

Dual US Open winner Ernie Els has offered Justin Rose, and golf’s newest US Open champion, some timely advice ahead of next month’s British Open.

Rose became the first England-born player in 43-years to lift the US Open trophy last Sunday at Merion.

Els posted one of only six sub-70 scores on the final day to share fourth place on five under par and four shots behind Rose.

And while the 43-year old South African-born Els now sets his focus on capturing a third British Open title next month at Muirfield, he had some timely advice for Rose.

“When Justin returns to Europe, as he will do for The Open, he is going to receive an enormous amount of demand on his time, so for him to stay focussed and stay on his game plan, that’s then going to be the biggest challenge,” said Els.

“So to just to be able to carry out the same things that he’s done that makes you win tournaments may become difficult given the new demands he will face.

“My advice to him will be not to change anything and while it will be a little difficult for him, I think he’s going to have a whole lot of confidence going into next month’s Open Championship.”

And Els believes now that Rose has joined the list of Major Champions the Florida-based Brit can go on to become a multiple Major winner.

“Now that Justin’s won his first Major, he can just kick on now and win many more majors,” said Els.

“Justin’s 32-years of age and he’s done all the work, and won all the big tournaments he needed to win in the lead-up to capturing a first Major of his career.

“So his goal now will be winning more Majors.

“And once you’ve won one Major you can’t believe the confidence boost you get, and looking at Justin’s game, he has all the tools and he’s got such a great technique and while his swing is very mechanical, it’s a swing that should stand him in good stead to win more majors.

“So Justin should go on and win many more majors now that he’s knocked down the first majors winning door.”

Els is returning to competition at this week’s 25th anniversary BMW International Open in Munich.

And after one over par was the winning score last week at Merion, Els is looking forward to a tournament where 27-under par is the record winning score, and set in 2001 by fellow British Open winner, John Daly.

“It’s going to be a relief coming to a course that yields so many birdies compared to a course like Merion,” said Els.

“But then you still have to hit the shots, and it is a golf course that is not going to lie over and die for you.

“In saying that, I will be trying to shoot a 66 each day and stay relevant, so the pressure will be on to get off to a good start.”

Joining Els in Munich is Spain’s Sergio Garcia, and at No. 15 the highest world ranked player in the 2million euro (US$2.6million) event, along with American Dustin Johnson and former champion and German hero, Martin Kaymer.

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