SAN DIEGO (AP) — Justin Rose doesn't pay attention to his age no matter how much he gets reminded.
His victory Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open was historic on a couple of fronts. At age 45, he became the oldest winner of a tournament that dates to 1952. He became the first wire-to-wire winner at Torrey Pines in 71 years. He broke the 72-hole tournament record at 23-under 265, beating by one the mark held by Tiger Woods (1999) and George Burns (1987).
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Justin Rose, of England, hits out of a bunker on the 14th hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, hits out of a bunker on the 17th hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, left, talks to Joel Dahmen on the 18th green after winning the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, holds the winner's trophy at the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
He also moved to No. 3 in the world, making him the second-oldest player behind Vijay Singh to be ranked that high.
Rose must not have received the memo. The PGA Tour is supposed to be a young man's game.
“Yeah, listen, I don't read into it,” Rose said. “I don't buy into the narrative of it, but I take the pride out of it, that I'm doing something that's not easy to do. But I don't wake up in the morning and believe that narrative, either.”
He left Torrey Pines a year ago at No. 55 in the world. He ended the year at No. 10 having lost another playoff at the Masters (to Rory McIlroy), won the FedEx Cup playoff opener and qualified for his seventh Ryder Cup appearance. He was the oldest player on the team by seven years.
There's that age thing again.
But it's no less remarkable considering how the numbers are dwindling. Rose is among just 10 players 40 or older who have full PGA Tour status. That includes 50-year-old Tiger Woods, who last played in 2024 because of injuries, and 62-year-old Vijay Singh, who took a career money exemption and probably won't play but a few times this year.
Harris English, the previous winner at Torrey Pines who qualified for the Ryder Cup last year, is 36 and found himself not taking anything for granted.
“I don't know how much time I have left, maybe 10 years,” English said last week at The American Express. “It's getting way more competitive.”
Joel Dahmen is trying to make do on conditional status this year. He's 38.
“The tour is so deep,” he said. “These kids are so good. I think nine or 10 guys have their cards who are over 40.”
The others with full cards 40 and over are Brice Garnett, Chris Kirk, Alex Noren, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland.
The age really isn't an issue. Rose works hard, keeps fit and has added speed. It's the motivation, the willingness to keep trying to improve when he has already accomplished so much — U.S. Open title, Olympic gold medal, reaching No. 1 in the world, and one of the few players who can claim victory on all six continents where golf is played.
“I'm still loving it,” Rose said. “I'm still working hard. You've got to love it to work hard. I still believe there's good stuff in front of me.”
Woods was his motivation on Sunday. Rose had a six-shot lead and focused on little goals to keep him pointed in the right direction. He wanted to expand his lead for the third straight day. And he was aware the tournament record was 266 last matched by Woods in 1999.
No one got closer than six shots — his lead at the start — and he won by seven. And closing with six pars gave him the tournament record.
“Those days or those weeks or those rounds are definitely showing me that the gas is still in the tank,” Rose said. “Obviously, accessing it is the job now. How do I do that more often? That’s always the trick, but at least knowing it’s there builds a lot of confidence.”
His goals are clear. The next chance is April at Augusta National. Rose not only joins Ben Hogan as the only players who twice lost a playoff in the Masters, he has played with the Masters champion three times on Sunday — McIlroy last year, Sergio Garcia in 2017 and Jordan Spieth in 2015.
He also has six top 10s in the majors since turning 40. But his lone title was the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. He doesn't want to end as a one-time major champion, regardless of a career that is all but certain to land him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“I think I just need to be patient with myself when the weeks slip by that aren’t great and just know that it’s still there,” he said. "Just know I’m pretty good at gearing up for the weeks I want to play well and having that experience to do that.
“Listen, I’d love to find a way to play well every single week,” he added. “But if I can find a way to hone in on the weeks that I really want to play well, that would be enough for me to chase down some of the goals I have left in my career.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Justin Rose, of England, hits out of a bunker on the 14th hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, hits out of a bunker on the 17th hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, left, talks to Joel Dahmen on the 18th green after winning the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, holds the winner's trophy at the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
LONDON (AP) — There's finally a serious threat to the France and Ireland dominion over the Six Nations.
England has come on for the first time since its last title in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team is riding an 11-game winning streak, in which the highlight was beating New Zealand 33-19 in November. It ended the All Blacks' grand slam hopes and sealed the exit of New Zealand coach Scott Robertson.
A resurgent team with British and Irish Lions on the bench and brimming with X-factor in Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Pollock has prompted coach Steve Borthwick, normally cautious, to talk up their climactic last-round showdown with defending champion France in Paris.
“On 14 March ... we want to be in a position in that game to get what we all want to achieve,” Borthwick told the BBC.
England is vulnerable, though. Its last test of 2025 against Argentina was an aerial dogfight that wasn't clinched until the Pumas bungled a last-minute throw-in.
France and Ireland have shared the last four Six Nations titles and anticipation of their matchup this year will be resolved in the opening game, the first Thursday kickoff in championship history to avoid the Milan Cortina Olympics opening ceremony.
France is the favorite thanks to an ideal schedule — home games against Ireland and England — the return of inspirational captain Antoine Dupont, and the strength of the Top 14, home of the last five European club champions.
But France's autumn campaign raised questions: It was outsmarted and overpowered by 14-man South Africa and notched unconvincing wins against Fiji and a depleted Australia.
Coach Fabien Galthié has appeared to accept their struggles while transitioning the team for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
He shocked by dropping unhurried record try-scorer Damian Penaud, workhorse vice-captain Grégory Alldritt and 98-cap filler Gaël Fickou. From Uini Atonio's sudden retirement due to heart issues and an injury list including Romain Ntamack, Paul Boudehent and Nolann Le Garrec, Galthié sees opportunity rather than jeopardy.
He's highlighted novice backs Théo Attissogbe, Kalvin Gourgues and Fabien Brau-Boirie and uncapped flanker Lenni Nouchi, who is the oldest of the four at 22. “These prospects need to play,” Galthié said. “They need the chance to make mistakes.”
Then there's Dupont and the precious reassurance he gives every team he plays for that everything will be OK. An ACL tear in March against Ireland kept him out until November and the scrum-half finally played 80 minutes in mid-January. He's surprised himself by how quickly he's got up to speed.
The big debate among Irish fans at this time is usually about who should be the fly-half: Sam Prendergast, the best attacker? Jack Crowley, the best defender? Or Harry Byrne, the best goal kicker?
But there have been bigger issues for Ireland in a troublesome buildup.
Ireland's all-Lions front row was humiliated by South Africa in November. The lineout is already messy and if Ireland doesn't have a scrum it won't matter who is the No. 10.
Tighthead star Tadhg Furlong has played less than two hours of rugby since the South Africa embarrassment and injuries have forced Ireland to its fourth-choice loosehead. Whoever plays, all eyes will be on him in the first scrum in Paris.
Also out are Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird and Hugo Keenan, who broke his thumb in the training camp in Portugal last week.
Bundee Aki was also dropped and censured by Ireland before a disciplinary panel served him a six-week suspension for verbally abusing a referee again.
The ban spoke to a “growing and unacceptable culture” of misconduct by Ireland players toward match officials, former Irish test ref Owen Doyle told the Irish Times. Other recent cases involved Jonathan Sexton in 2023 and Hansen in 2024, and Caelan Doris and James Ryan have also had communication issues. They add up to an unwanted reputation for Ireland with referees.
Scotland has a different reputation. World-beaters at times, the Scots are notoriously prone to switching off in games.
The booing at Murrayfield in November after they lost to Argentina from 21-0 up can’t be brushed off. The collapses stem from a weak bench, unreliable set-pieces and a mental fragility that have not been fixed under Gregor Townsend, the longest serving of the current Six Nations coaches.
Scottish Rugby defied a growing clamor for a new voice for the national team by giving Townsend a contract extension last September to the 2027 World Cup. By then he will have been in charge for 10 years.
Townsend doesn't shy from tough questions and showed he can be ruthless when he dropped Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe before the New Zealand game in November.
Scotland averages two wins per Six Nations on Townsend's watch and they could have two wins by the only break in the competition this year; they start with Italy away, home to England, which hasn't won at Murrayfield since 2020, then Wales away.
After beating Italy three times out of three in 2025, battling in two, Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus predicted “underrated” Italy will finish second or third in the Six Nations. But his compliment didn't specify when.
Italy has never finished higher than fourth and to repeat that this year would no surprise. There are only two home games, Scotland at the start and England at the end, but the Azzurri's positive energy and enterprise have brought about rare sold-out signs at 70,000-seat Stadio Olimpico against Scotland.
“Can we dream of beating Scotland?” coach Gonzalo Quesada said. “We're world champions at dreaming.”
Italy has big holes at the back to fill after injuries to Ange Capuozzo and Tommaso Allan were compounded by a ruptured ACL in training on Saturday suffered by in-form Northampton wing Edoardo Todaro, who debuted in November.
If Japan was in the Six Nations Wales would be ecstatic.
At Japan's expense in 2025, Wales ended the longest losing streak in men's tier-one history in July, and snapped a record 10-match losing streak in home games in November. But another streak is still alive: 11 consecutive Six Nations losses dating to 2023.
Wales supporters starved for success gobbled up crumbs of optimism from a bunch of tries scored against New Zealand and Argentina in November. But at the other end Wales didn't have the physicality to stop opponents from getting over the gainline.
The team's best player and captain, Jac Morgan, remained a doubt to appear in the tournament following shoulder surgery. Also worrying for Wales were ticket sales, its lifeblood. Sales are low. At least a goosebumps prematch show is guaranteed: The national anthem will be sung a cappella in Cardiff after it was a big hit in November before the All Blacks game.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - The French team players including Antoine Dupont, center, celebrate with the trophy after the Six Nations rugby union match between France and Scotland at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, file)
