Brooks Koepka to end year as World No.1 as Rose falters at Indonesian Masters

Brooks Koepka will end the year as World No.1 after Justin Rose falters in Indonesia and comes up a shot shy of returning to the top of the rankings 

Justin Rose missed out on returning to the World No.1 spot by a single stroke at the Indonesian Masters on Sunday and was left to rue a costly five-putt on the 12th hole. 

The Englishman needed to finish in a tie for 12th place in order to overtake Brooks Koepka, but a three-over final round 75 left him in a tie for 17th – one shot shy of getting back to the No.1 spot. 

Rose, who was the defending champion, started the final round in a tie for fourth but got off to a nightmare bogey, double-bogey start before adding a further dropped shot on the fifth to end up four over after just five holes. It briefly began to look up as he recovered two shots with back-to-back birdies around the turn, but a five-putt from the fringe of the 12th hole for triple bogey and a follow-up bogey on 13 ended up completely derailing his round. 

He did manage to claw back three birdies over his final five holes, including back-to-back gains from the 17th, but it wouldn’t be enough to finish better than tied 17th – 14 shots behind eventual winner Poom Saksansin. 

It means that Koepka, who won both the U.S Open and PGA Championship in 2018, will end the year as World No.1.

“Even if I made an eagle on the last and became the world number one, I would not have been proud of it given how I played,” said Rose.

“It was a very hard day. It was a shame to finish the year that way for sure, but I obviously don’t want to let today change things.

“I gave it a courageous finish. I never give up and I take pride in that coming down the stretch.

“No matter if you are number one in the world or number 300, these are the moments you have to take and use as fuel. I will reflect and learn and use it as motivation.”