THEY CALL HIM THE WILD ROSE.........

During the high summer of 1998 Peter McEvoy's was one of the few significant voices in golf urging caution when it came to Justin Rose turning professional. While almost everyone else had been seduced by the 17 year old's exploits in The Open that July, McEvoy seemed just a wee bit curmudgeonly when he pointed out that he had spent most of that year trying to convince the young Englishman not to turn pro and that he was not about to change his mind.

With hindsight, of course, McEvoy - the outstanding amateur of his generation and captain of several international teams Rose played in - was absolutely spot on. Rose may have been good enough to finish fourth at Royal Birkdale, may have had more impact as an amateur on the oldest championship than anyone since Bobby Jones rode into town, but the months that followed exposed the harsh truth that Rose was still no more than a very talented boy trying, and failing, to compete against grown-ups. As the missed tournament cuts - 21 in a row which is some kind of unwanted record - piled up and trumpet-blowing reporters instead began to file pieces about why Rose had turned instant success into deep and embarrassing failure, the watching McEvoy pursed his lips and fretted about the future of the prodigy he had tried so hard to help. "I was afraid that Justin would have the stuffing knocked out of him. I've seen it happen before with outstanding young players. They spend their lives enjoying success and when failure comes it hurts them so badly they simply lose their appetite for the game, " he said.

Suddenly, however, the story has changed. McEvoy's precise advice had been for Rose to stay amateur two years post Birkdale and then to turn professional. He was spookily correct. Already this season the now 20 years old golfer has finished second twice and hit the money button in several other tournaments. He is now making those halfway cuts with a bit of a swagger while his stroke average of 69.69 is three shots a round better than last year. This by any standards is progress of the phenomenal kind and no-one is more delighted than Rose's old mentor. "In 1998 I believed it was simply unnecessary for Justin to put himself through the professional hoop, " said McEvoy. "It doesn't matter whether it is golf or accountancy or whatever, you cannot commit yourself to a career among adults until you are adult yourself.

Justin was entitled to his teenage years away from the public gaze. Emotionally as well as physically. Instead he missed all those cuts and grew two inches taller in front of the world's press. That's very tough. "But he has come through it all, demonstrated he still has the confidence and the desire on top of all that natural ability and now I think he will crack on. My view is that, ultimately, Justin Rose will turn out to be better than Sergio Garcia. And I think Garcia will be a great golfer. Together they are the future of European golf, indeed they will relaunch European golf from its present relative - and I stress relative - doldrums." Just how much Rose has regained control of his game offers up an intriguing sub-plot to the season and while the superstars remain enticingly distant figures for Rose, the Englishman will appreciate McEvoy's ringing endorsement that he is back on the right track.

Appreciation too will flow through the family home in Hampshire. The player's father, Ken, spent most of the last few years accompanying his son to tournaments, a companionship that ended prematurely when he was diagnosed with leukaemia last summer. Even before this unhappy event interfered there were those of us who thought the son might be better off on his own but Rose Senior always did point out that coach David Leadbetter had a three year plan to turn "a boy's swing into a pro's" and that he, Ken, was Leadbetter's eyes as this process took place out on tour. His hope now is that, treatment over, he will be well enough to watch again from close range by May. By September Mr Rose could be walking The Belfry's fairways and overseeing his son's progress in the Ryder Cup. Of course much may happen between now and then but Justin currently figures reasonably in the team rankings and inevitably this dream climax is taking shape in his mind and others.

Some, however, think that what Justin requires now is a season of steady, unspectacular improvement and fear that the Ryder Cup with its attendant hype and nonsense is exactly what a recovering 20 years old does not need. McEvoy is not among this carping bunch. "Justin and the Ryder Cup this year? Yes, I'm alright about that now. I really am. A year ago he was still trying to hit the ball too hard. Everybody was. That was Tiger's effect on them, they all thought they had to hit the ball further. Now from what I see he has got it back under control and he looks good. If the Ryder Cup happens for him it happens. I'm happy with his progress. He always has been special, always has had that extra something that you can see but you can't define and now he is much more grown up as well. He'd be fine at The Belfry if that's how it works out."

Bill Elliott