HAMPSHIRE'S Justin Rose has paid tribute to coach David Leadbetter for putting an end to his "whinging".
The Hampshire ace rose from 24th to finish joint fifth in the US Open last night.
On his tournament debut, he ended up as the leading European along with Swede Fredrik Jacobson.
The Father's Day finish was also pertinent for the 22-year-old, whose dad Ken died of leukaemia last September.
Rose said: "That's a nice present for my old man."
Having practised poorly, Rose was delighted with his performance and he gave the credit to Leadbetter.
"He gave me a bit of a hard time beforehand because I was struggling.
"He said it was ridiculous I was not up for a US Open and, by being hard on me, maybe he was speaking through my Dad.
"He pointed out to me that Nick Price has won a lot not playing well.
"I was whinging a bit and I took it to David for him to say something to fire me up. He gave me a talking to.
"This is another good learning experience for me and I will take level par in this for the next 20 years every time.
"My game is at a major level now and without saying I feel I am ready to win one. I think I am capable of it in the not too distant future.
"People talk about patience all the time, but I have never seen the value of it until now. This week spelt it out black and white."
American Jim Furyk won his first major title.
The 33-year-old, who had the first of 12 top-10 finishes in majors seven years ago, won by three strokes from Australian Stephen Leaney at Olympia Fields near Chicago.
Furyk equalled the lowest total in the 108-year history of the championship when a final round 72 gave him the trophy on the eight-under-par mark of 272. And he even bogeyed the last two holes for that.
Defending champion Tiger Woods managed only 20th, but insisted: "I am pretty close. I hit the ball good the last three days and got absolutely nothing out of it."
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