John Jacobs hailed the final-round performance of Justin Rose at the US Open as the greatest display of ball striking under pressure that he has ever seen.

The revered golf coach and founding father of the European Tour watched in awe as Hampshire’s Rose tamed the fearsome Merion course on Sunday to win his first ever major championship.

“I’ve never seen anything that has come close to how he played that last round,” said the 88-year-old former Ryder Cup captain, who lives in Lyndhurst.

“To my mind, he won because he had the best swing, he had the best mind, he had the best coach, and he put it all together and didn’t waver in any direction.

“It was quite the best exhibition of ball striking under strain I have ever seen.

“I don’t remember him driving it into the rough once.

“I have been around a long time, but I have never seen anything that comes close to his golf and his demeanour. It was absolutely perfect. His speech afterwards showed just the utmost touch of class as well.

“You can’t praise him too highly.”