The phrase “turning back the clock” is such a backhanded compliment. From one side, it’s laudatory, suggesting that a player is returning to the peak of his powers. But, from the other, it is a touch insulting, as if to suggest an athlete is no longer capable of performing at such a level on a consistent basis and that the moments in which he does should be cherished because they are fleeting.
This weekend in sports, it was uttered ad nauseam. Turning back the clock, turning back the clock, turning back the clock. You would have thought it was the end of Daylight Savings! In reality, it was the Farmers Insurance Open in golf and the Australian Open in tennis where Justin Rose and Novak Djokovic, respectively, turned in vintage performances.
On the golf side, Rose became the oldest winner (45) in the history of the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend. He won by seven strokes, led from start to finish and set the tournament scoring record at the 36-, 54- and 72-hole marks. The victory was his second in his last five starts on the PGA Tour dating back to last season.
When asked about when the best golf of his career took place, Rose looked back through a few different windows: 2017 and into 2018 based on statistics, 2021 when he was the world No. 1 and won this tournament the first time and just last year at the Masters and the Ryder Cup based on specific round performances.
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Rose answered the question he was asked about the past, but it was not lost on him that the answer could still be in his future.
“I don’t think I can work much harder, I think I just need to be patient with myself when the weeks slip by that aren’t great and just know that it’s still there,” Rose said. “Just know I’m pretty good at sort of gearing up for the weeks I want to play well, and I think having that sort of experience to do that.
“And obviously, yeah, listen, I’d love to find a way to play well every single week, but if I can kind of find a way to hone in on the weeks that I really want to play well, that would be enough for me to chase down some of the goals I have left in my career.”
His performance at Torrey Pines showed as much could be true. The win pushed him to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings behind only the aforementioned Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. The latter thwarted his latest attempt to slip on the green jacket last April, while Schauffele — then world No. 2 — did the same in regards to raising the Claret Jug at Royal Troon to end 2024.
Rose still holds onto his childhood dreams of winning all four major championships, though, despite only claiming the U.S. Open more than a decade ago. Then, he was a rising sun who was believed to be peaking, but then came the Olympic gold medal in 2016 and then the spurts of quality that he referenced.
His peers then were Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Tiger Woods and others, rivals who much like Djovokic with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now find themselves on the sidelines, for the most part.
While counterparts and playing competitors have entered and exited the revolving door of professional golf, Rose hasn’t.
He has remained diligent with militant preparation. He has surrounded himself with a team to squeeze everything out of his game, his body and his mind in order to get the absolute most of his high-end play. Rose has blossomed while others his age have wilted. In doing so, he has proven that he isn’t just turning back the clock every once in a while, he is showing you the current time.