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Rose wins Order of Merit, adds win at Volvo Masters

Justin Rose made sure to clinch the European Order of Merit, then added a win at the Volvo Masters for good measure.

Rose secured the Order of Merit by reaching the sudden death playoff at Valderrama, where the Englishman rolled in a 12-foot putt at the second extra hole to also win the season-ending 4 million euro (US$6.08 million) tournament over Simon Dyson (70) and Soren Kjeldsen (67).

Rose rallied after blowing a four-shot lead with nine holes to play.

"On the 16th hole I actually looked like losing the Order of Merit as well as the tournament," Rose said.

"I saw Graeme McDowell had made an albatross. Padraig [Harrington] was maybe going to even par up in front of me, Soren was 2 under. It looked like it was very much in the wrong direction," he said.

But Rose quickly turned it around, shooting a 192-yard 7-iron to within 15 feet at the par-5 17th that allowed for a comfortable two-putt birdie.

"I'm not out there shaking like a leaf anymore. I'm out there calm, pretty collected," the 27-year-old Englishman said. "I feel like I'm in control."

By the time he was heading back out for the first playoff hole, Rose's name was already being engraved into the Harry Vardon trophy since the top-three finish meant he had overtaken Ernie Els to top the European Tour's money list.

"It's emotional. It was a hard day," Rose said. "It's been a long road to get here, but I feel great."

Rose overtook Els -- who opted to play on the Asian Tour this weekend -- and Harrington thanks to Valderrama's winning prize of 666,660 euros. He topped the money list with 2,944,945 euros after 12 tournaments, the lowest number played by any champion in the Tour's modern history.

"That's been the key for me, consistency," said Rose, who moved up to No. 7 in the world rankings and top of the Ryder Cup points list for Europe with his second victory of the year.

"That's why the win was so valuable today, I've had a lot of top-10 finishes and three seconds and I think that's what was missing from the year, a win," he said.

Rose started the final round with a four-stroke lead over Dyson and Harrington but shot a 3-over 74 to finish tied with an overall score of 1-under 283.

Harrington, who won last year's Order of Merit title after finishing in a three-way tie for second at Valderrama, couldn't hole birdie putts at the 17th and 18th that would have pushed him into the playoff.

The British Open champion shot 1-over 72 to finish two shots back in a tie for fourth with McDowell (68).
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