Rose, Wilson relishing Ryder Cup bows

Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson shared many of the same dreams 13 years ago when they were England boy internationals.

The Ryder Cup was amongst them and now they are together again to make it a reality later this week at Valhalla.

For Rose the surprise is that it has taken this long. He looked destined for greatness from early in his career and since his fourth place finish at the 1998 Open his every move has been followed.

Wilson, on the other hand, had never even played in a major until two years ago and when qualifying started last September his main thoughts were on trying to win his first tournament.

The Mansfield golfer, who celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday, has still to do that, but four second places – that makes seven in all – mean that he and Rose will both earn their first caps under Nick Faldo.

“When we were with England boys we had to fill out an evaluation form,” recalls Wilson. “One of the questions was about our goals.

“Justin was the only one to write ’world number one’ and I always thought the rest of us were looked down on a bit because we didn’t.

“I think I put ’Ryder Cup’, though. I’d been to The Belfry in 1993 – I was 13 and had a 12-handicap – and while I don’t remember much, there was a shot from Seve Ballesteros into the 16th hole that I can still picture.

“It was around the time that I was starting to think about being a golfer, but I had no idea how good I might be.

“I still didn’t even a few years ago. Getting in the world’s top 100 became my goal, then the top 50.

“Last September I was thinking more about the next match, not this one. But my game improved quite quickly and I started to realise I was good enough.

“I had doubts in the past about whether I was ready, but now I know I am even though I still haven’t got that first win yet.”

No European has ever gone into the match without a career victory to his name, but Wilson proved a lot – to himself as well as to others – in the way he battled back to a top 10 finish in the last counting event after staring a missed cut in the face.

“It’s not like I will be intimidated by anyone. I played with Mickelson at Loch Lomond in July and beat him.

“I still don’t think I can beat Tiger Woods over the course of a year, but if I keep improving as I have I can definitely be a top 10 player, top five even.”

Rose has already achieved top 10, but remembering 1995 he is far from content yet. Being Europe’s number one last season was one thing, but being world number one is still a distance away.

For the time being, though, a first Ryder Cup appearance is another step on the ladder – and a further one, of course, will be playing a starring role in Louisville.

Asked what he could bring to the team Rose replied: “Well, hopefully a few points. I feel like I could play foursomes and fourballs with anybody. I feel like I’m pretty relaxed and could team up nicely from a chemistry point of view with a lot of players.

"Hopefully I’ll be quite a versatile player for the team.”