Justin Rose received a ringing endorsement from an unlikely source yesterday, on his decision to quit amateur ranks less than 24 hours after a stunning performance in the British Open at Royal Birkdale. "He's been playing top-class amateur golf for two years and what is he going to learn from staying amateur any longer?", said Sir Michael Bonallack, secretary of the Royal and Ancient.
Rose, who has yet to celebrate his 18th birthday, is following a similar route to that taken by Ronan Rafferty at the same age in 1981 when he, too, earned rich praise from Bonallack. Significantly, both had gained Walker Cup status before turning professional.
"He has experienced everything you are going to experience as an amateur," added Sir Michael. "He's got the game, so I don't think you can blame him at all. The good thing is that his father is acting as his manager. He's level-headed and will keep Justin's feet on the ground."
Following predicted lines, Rose was reported yesterday to have signed for Carnegie Sports, who handle Gordon Sherry, the last young British amateur tipped for greatness and the recipient of a £125,000 deal with golf equipment manufacturers Titleist in 1995. But Rose is a far more valuable property.
The South African-born youngster, now from Hook in Hampshire, already has a club contract worth around £300,000 in place and further sponsorship deals could see that figure double. In effect he could secure his entire professional future, without winning a tournament.
Leading golf manager Andrew Ramsey, who was responsible for negotiating Michael Campbell's deals after the largely unknown New Zealander came third in the 1995 British Open at St Andrews, believes the world is Rose's oyster. "I'd imagine that his new marketing company will be talking to a lot of people at the moment," said Ramsey.
"What Justin did at the Open was spectacular and he's got immense marketing potential," he added. "He's always smiling, a breath of fresh air - in fact I'd love to see other golfers look at him and see how he conducts himself. With Michael Campbell, the phone was running hot, and when it's running hot you've got to take advantage of deals because you don't know when something will happen. There are no guarantees in golf."
As if to prove the point, Campbell, who will be remembered for a stirring performance in the Murphy's Irish Open in 1995, went on to sustain a serious wrist injury and has struggled since then, finishing tied 66th on Sunday. At Mount Juliet, he was only two strokes off the lead at the halfway stage but closing rounds of 70 and 73 knocked him down to an eventual share of 12th place.
"If I was Rose's manager, I'd be assessing all the opportunities, but I'd try not to get too carried away," Ramsey added. "I wouldn't have him signing up for 50 corporate days and fill his schedule so he couldn't deal with it."
What is beyond question is his huge popularity right now with the British public. Quite apart from any business deals, he is being quoted at 14 to 1 by Ladbrokes to win the British Open in 2003. And there's expansive talk about him having an earning capacity comparable to that of Tiger Woods, whose current contracts are valued in excess of $100 million.
In a share of fourth place, Rose achieved the lowest finish by an amateur since 1953 at Carnoustie, where the American fitness fanatic, Frank Stranahan, was tied second, four strokes behind the winner, Ben Hogan. After that, the best amateur performance was a sixth-place by Guy Wolstenholme at St Andrews in 1960 when, incidentally, Joe Carr was eighth.
Either way, there was much to be learned by older, more seasoned professionals from the performances of Rose and Woods last weekend. Indeed they provided hope that the game is in safe hands.
The popularity of Rose hinged largely on a bright, cheery disposition which had him smiling and behaving courteously to the galleries at every opportunity. And people like to see their sporting heroes smile. It makes quite a change from the glum images projected by such as Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo in recent years.
But the contribution by Woods was far more significant, in my view. And it reminded me of a comment by Jack Nicklaus at Royal St George's in 1981, when there were more than the usual number of American absentees from the Open. "There's so much money in the game these days that these guys have made enough by Easter to last them the rest of the year," he said.
By that stage, the game had ceased to be about money for Nicklaus, if it ever was. But one suspected that in the process of being buffeted by horrific weather at Birkdale last weekend, quite a number of players were looking towards softer pickings down the road. Heads were going down - and not for protection from the elements.
Which is what made the performance by Woods so refreshing. Money can no longer have any meaning for this young man. By the manner of his last round performance, however, he showed himself to be driven by far more powerful factors. Pride in his craft and an unquenchable desire to win, whatever the circumstances, saw him overcome a dispiriting start to eventually shoot a superb closing round of 66.
Deep down, he probably knew he couldn't win. But he was determined to leave his mark.
Against that background, it is richly ironic that one of the game's older brigade, Mark O'Meara, happened to capture the title. He was unquestionably a splendid winner, but for me, the performances of Rose and Woods will have a much more enduring impact.
