Early-blooming Justin Rose is waiting to blossom at British Open

Sometimes - after a circuitous route - it does actually work out more or less as planned for a teenage sportsman who generates huge expectations. Justin Rose had the fortune and misfortune to become a star in Britain at age 17. He was a skinny amateur with a winning manner who flirted with winning one of the world's most important golf tournaments, firing a second-round 66 at Royal Birkdale during the 1998 British Open. Finishing with one of the more memorable flourishes in the Open's long history by holing a 59-yard chip on the 18th, he ended up in a tie for fourth in his first major championship. The roar that accompanied his final shot seemed, at the time, the perfect way to trumpet the professional career that began the next day. But the cheers, if not the interest, soon faded as Rose, pressing like many an over-age... [read full story]