U.S. Open: Can Justin Rose complete Britain's major hat trick?

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Justin Rose could become part of a unique golf record should he win a second career U.S. Open this week. The 45-year-old Englishman could make it a three-peat of British major winners this year, following Rory McIlroy’s Masters win and Aaron Rai breaking through at last month’s PGA Championship.

The Brits, which can also include Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood, who was the 2018 U.S. Open runner up at Shinnecock Hills, will face stiff competition, of course. Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa are among the favored Americans who will challenge for the season’s third major.

“I don’t think it necessarily suits a British player any more than it does the Americans,” Rose said on Wednesday, one day before the U.S. Open tees off. “They seem to come over and play great golf in The Open Championship every single year. I feel like their record at The Open Championship is actually stronger potentially than our own sometimes. I don’t really see that being an advantage per se, but I like that you should never go against a run, and three in a row would be good.”

Rose is right, especially for the European players, who are so used to playing in the U.S. as part of the PGA Tour.

“I think just over time we’ve got a lot more comfortable with the style of golf that you need to play and the setups around here,” said Rory McIlroy.

Rose missed has a missed cut (2004) and T10 finish (2018) on his Shinnecock U.S. Open résumé. The tournament in general has not been kind to him. Since winning at Merion in 2013, he’s seven missed cuts, including five out of the past six.

Rose’s major performance this season has given him confidence heading into the 2026 U.S. Open. He finished T3 at the Masters and T10 at the PGA Championship. He has missed only one cut since early March and finished T12 at the Memorial two weeks ago.

Looking back is not in Rose’s forte. Between the Masters and PGA Championship, he finished T65 at the Cadillac Championship and T45 at the Truist Championship. Not exactly inspiring weeks that would put you in a good mood heading into a major.

The now 45-year-old Rose says he keeps a focus on the bigger tournaments on the calendar and tries to find his form as they approach. That includes effective preparation and allowing his body to recover at the right time.

“Obviously that’s a very hard thing to do is to, kind of peak on demand, but you’ve got to give it a go, right?,” Rose said. “You’ve got to kind of stack the odds in your favor. Me and my team, we talk about ticking boxes. As I prepare for a major, I tick as many preparation boxes as I can to give myself ultimately the best chance I can of playing well.

“They’re the events that grab my attention. They’re the events that are going to change my career. They’re the events that I’ve sort of been getting up for and playing well in. So I’m excited.”