Golf

Justin Rose has Georgia on his mind on return from injury

Harrington and Clarke in California field

Padraig Harrington will compete in this week’s Northern Trust Open in California. of Ireland chips from the bunker onto the 11th green during the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club on February 8, 2014 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Wed Feb 12 2014 - 20:35

US Open champion Justin Rose has Georgia on his mind as he makes his comeback from a two-month injury lay-off in this week’s Northern Trust Open.

Rose will make his 2014 debut at Riviera Country Club after being sidelined with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour and Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour last month.

The 33-year-old admits he has rushed his recovery in order to get back on the course and begin his preparation for next week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and then the year’s first Major, the US Masters at Augusta National in April.

“A lot of hard work went into me being here,” Rose said in a pre-tournament press conference. “It was a race against time to really get back playing and get back strong. If I’m honest, I’ve only really been hitting balls, drivers, for about a week, 10 days now. So it really has been down to the wire.”

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Rose believes he irritated his shoulder by throwing a ball 60 or 70 yards to his caddie during The Barclays last August – an event where he finished second – and struggled with the injury at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in November.

Three time Major winner Padraig Harrington is looking to boost his chances of making the Masters and is joined by Darren Clarke in California this week.

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