Justin Rose believes the recent success enjoyed by he and some of his team-mates can give Europe an edge at this week’s Ryder Cup.
The holders meet old adversaries the USA at Hazeltine, hoping to win the Cup for the fourth straight edition.
However, with six rookies in the side, Darren Clarke’s men are seen as the distinct underdogs to succeed in Minnesota, despite some of the exploits of their players in recent months.
Last week saw Rory McIlroy claim both the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, while Rose’s win at the Olympics came on the back of Henrik Stenson producing an incredible performance to break his major duck at the Open Championship.
One of the rookies, Danny Willett, is also the reigning Masters champion, so there is plenty of experience of getting the job done under pressure within the European team room.
Although he says the squad are putting their individual exploits aside to achieve their collective goal, the 36-year-old admits it gives everyone confidence that those around them can come up with the goods when it matters.
Rose said: “It’s nice to have belief in your team-mates that they can stand up to pressure and they can deliver on the big stage and I think that’s what the gold medal and the green jacket and the FedEx Cup and Henrik’s Claret Jug, that’s what they represent.
“They represent that we are guys that can play the best golf when it counts, but we are after that little gold trophy. We are not after anything else this week.
We are not about any of the other victories that the team had enjoyed all year long.” Europe are currently 2.75 to win the Cup, with the tie 11.00 and the Americans the 1.57 favourites.
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