Justin Rose confessed it took him until just three years ago to get over the expectations placed on his since finishing fourth as an amateur in the 1998 Open Championship.

A day later, and in a whirlwind of publicity, Rose turned pro ahead of the TNT Open at Hilversum.

However it was a sombre few days with the golf world reeling over the news Stuart Appleby’s wife, Renee had been killed in a bizarre traffic accident at Waterloo Railway Station in London and on the day after The Open.

Justin Rose teeing off in the Emirates Australian Open Pro-Am at The Lakes Club in Sydney. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

Rose won the afternoon pro-am that week but then proceeded to miss 22 halfway cuts in succession including his appearance in the 1998 Australian Open later that year in Adelaide.

Since then the Englishman has risen to be one of the best players in the world and currently ranked No. 4 in the world.

However ahead of teeing-up in Sydney for this week’s Emirates Australian Open Rose revealed just how he sought to cope with the hype of what happened that week 14 years at Royal Birkdale.

“My decision to turn pro was made long before the Open Championship came around, and I had like this three-year plan in turning pro that I would get this experience under my belt, go to Q-School, probably spend a year on the Challenge Tour and just work my way into the top ranks.

“But after what happened at the Open Championship I got ahead of myself and probably everyone around me got ahead of themselves.

“So I found the adjustment very difficult and I was placing far too much pressure on myself, and placing far too much emphasis and getting a European Tour card and thinking that was the bee all and end all rather than focusing on improving.

“I just got way too resolved focus for a while and the pressure kept building and building and I felt like that I was having to try prove myself, and having to prove that The Open was not a flash in the pan.

“It probably took some eight to nine months of really struggling before taking stock of the situation and rebuild and readjust.

“There was a lot of scar tissue that was built up in the early stage of my career that took time to break down and to get over.

“But then 2001 was a breakthrough year for me as I won four times and got myself inside the top-50 in the world and looking it as that was a good effort as I was 21 years of age and had won four professional events.

“That was pretty impressive as there’s not too many 21-year olds who have done that but I don’t think I really believed in myself how good I was at that time because of what happened in 1998.

“I still had that doubt and that’s the thing I had to overcome and it’s one been in the last two or three years that I have got completely over that and now truly believe in myself under pressure and believe that I am one of the best players in the world.”

Rose will play the first two rounds of the Emirates Australian Open in the company of Australia’s Adam Scott and China’s Wenchong Liang.