JUSTIN ROSE has an added incentive to win the Players Championship.
Because it could make him just the second English Major winner to reach world No 1.
A leap from fifth to first would see 2013 US Open champion Rose, 37, follow in the footsteps of six-time Major champion Nick Faldo.
True, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood have both reached the summit in recent years.
But their achievement was diminished in many people’s eyes because neither of them managed to win a Major.
Rose, 37, is also the Olympic champion after Rio 2016.
And he says a tilt at the world No 1 spot will ensure he does not let things slide before next month’s US Open.
That’s something he admits he has been guilty of in the past.
Ryder Cup star Rose said: “It’s good to have that focus.
“Because in the past there have been times when I’ve gone a bit ‘brain soft’ for a few weeks after The Masters. But not this time. I felt I played pretty well alongside Henrik Stenson at the Zurich Classic a couple of weeks ago — and without getting the full rewards.
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“And if the chance presents itself this week — or in the weeks that follow — I feel I’ll be ready to take it.
“I was actually shocked to hear that I was in with a chance of going to world No 1 this week!
“I’ve obviously got to win and a few of the other guys have to play badly for it to happen but it’s still an exciting prospect.
“It’s interesting, because I have been playing a lot of the same events as Dustin Johnson.
“And I had noticed I had gotten within striking distance of him.
“But I thought my chance would probably come at the US Open, because that is where you get the most ranking points.
“I’m also playing Colonial and Memorial over the next few weeks too.
“And it is certainly going to be a huge goal now that I’m close enough to get there.”
Rose, who made his name as a 17-year old amateur when he finished fourth in The Open at Royal Birkdale in 1998, has got as high as world No 3 in the 20 years since.
He said: “I was higher in the rankings than I am now when I won the US Open in 2013, when I got to third.
“But I was still two or three hundred points away from No 1.
“So it wasn’t a particular target back then. This is the first time I’ve had a realistic chance and I’d love to do it.
“And having played consistently well for some time now — and had a few weeks when good results have really burst me forward — I do think that it’s something I can achieve.”
But there was disappointment for another in-form English golfer. Valspar Championship winner Paul Casey was forced to pull out of the Players in Florida with a back problem.
But he is hopeful of playing in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in two weeks’ time.
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