Congratulations to Justin Rose!

My previous blog on Saturday mentioned that Justin Rose had a four-stroke lead going into the final round at the AT&T National, and asked whether or not he could win while leading after three rounds, as opposed to coming from behind to win.

A week ago Rose had a three shot lead going into the final round at the Travelers Championship, and shot 75 on Sunday, losing the tournament by three shots.

Rose started off poorly on Sunday, but after nine holes he still had a five shot lead going into the back nine. The bad news is that he did not make a single birdie on the back nine. The good news is that he still won the tournament, by one shot!

Rose did not answer the question as to whether he can win going away, when entering the final round with the lead. He held on to win, but that is all we can say.

The mental side of professional golf once again showed us what "holding on", or "protecting the lead" can do to the leader. Golf is played between the ears, not just by tour professionals but also by everyday amateurs.

While Rose was "holding on", players like Ryan Moore, Jeff Overton, and J.B. Holmes were shooting five under, three under, and four under respectively on Sunday in an attempt to catch Rose.

That is the amazing thing about the mental side of golf. When a player is chasing the leader, he thinks about making birdies and eagles. If a player is in the lead, he usually thinks about making pars. Very few tour players who are in the lead have the mental strength to think about making birdies and expanding the lead.

Tiger Woods is one of those players who thinks about setting a new scoring record when he is in the lead, and not merely playing well enough to win. At the AT&T National, Tiger finished 14 shots behind Rose, because Tiger's head is still not over his personal problems yet.

But he will get his act together, and soon, possibly at the British Open coming up at the Old Course at St. Andrews.