Rose on a hat-trick

Justin Rose will head into The Open Championship on Thursday as one of the favourites to win after producing a flawless final round to claim the Scottish Open – his second victory in his last two starts.

Heading into the final round tied with local favourite Marc Warren, the Englishman birdied four of the first six holes of the Royal Aberdeen course to put a buffer between him and the field.

Justin Rose celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Scottish Open. PHOTO: Getty Images

Two more birdies at the 9^th and 12^th holes added to the bagful of pars and his finished with a closing 65 and a two-stroke win ahead of Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg.

Clutching the trophy, Rose admitted he was in uncharted waters after claiming back-to-back wins for the first time in his career, but believes the confidence gained from these wins will have him in good stead to make it a hat-trick of wins at Hoylake.

The 2013 US Open Champion, who won the Quicken Loans National on the PGA Tour two weeks ago, will now try to emulate Phil Mickelson’s achievement from last year in winning the Scottish Open and The Open in consecutive weeks.

Rose said: "I thought I would try and do a Phil this year and put it on my schedule. So far so good.

“I've won two-in-a-row now so I've put the pressure on myself. There's no-one to blame but me. It's uncharted territory for me, I've never won two in a row before, never mind three.

"It's unbelievable to be back in the winners' circle so quickly but right now I am feeling great. I don't feel the two wins have taken a lot out of me. I feel that I've taken it in my stride.

"The Open is going to come around quickly so tonight is going to be calm and relaxed. I will enjoy the moment but my mind will definitely be back in the game as of tomorrow.

“This a great tournament – there’s definitely something special about playing golf up here and the golfing crowd are so knowledgeable and I’ve really got to love this golf course.

“It was exactly the start I was looking for, and 16 was the key. I looked at the leaderboard and I was only two ahead and felt I was bound to make bogey there. Getting it up-and-down was the key to the win.”

With the course defenceless after morning rain and no wind, Rose took full advantage by storming to the turn in 31, moving three ahead of the field.

More silverware for Justin Rose's pool room. PHOTO: Getty Images.

The 33-year-old now moves from No.6 in the Official World Golf Ranking to a joint career high of No.3.

Broberg had the consolation of claiming one of the three qualifying places for Hoylake, with England's Tyrrell Hatton joint fourth and Scotland's Scott Jamieson joint eighth taking the others.

Broberg – who almost had a hole-in-one at the 17th – was delighted to pick up the largest cheque of his European Tour career, having also been a runner-up in South Africa at the start of last season.

“I'm just happy to be runner up to Justin Rose,” he said. “He played really well this week. I'm just happy.”

LEADERBOARD

1. Justin Rose (Eng)   69-68-66-65–268   €627,020

2. Kristoffer Broberg (Swe)   65-71-68-66–270     418,009

3. Marc Warren (Scot)   67-69-67-70–273 235,509

T4. Matteo Manassero (Ita)   69-72-68-65–274      148,039

T4. Shane Lowry (Ire)   72-68-68-66–274  148,039

ALSO:

T51. Wade Ormsby (SA)   71-73-74-67–268        €14,296

78. Matt Jones (NSW)   71-73-71-80–295            5,625

* For the full leaderboard, click here