He first came to prominence as an amateur at the 1998 Open Championship where he holed a dramatic shot from the rough at the final hole to finish in a tie for fourth place. He won the 2007 Order of Merit on the European Tour and was ranked in the World top-ten for 34 weeks between November 2007 and July 2008. In March 2012, Rose won his first World Golf Championship event at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and as a result he re-entered the world top-10. After finishing second to Tiger Woods in the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational, he rose to a career high world ranking of 3rd