Justin Rose reacts to US Ryder Cup fallout

Justin Rose has said that he was surprised by the fall-out from the USA’s Ryder Cup defeat at Le Golf National a fortnight ago.

Speaking ahead of this week’s British Masters, where he is the tournament host, the FedEx Cup champion revealed that he had been saddened by Patrick Reed openly criticising teammate Jordan Spieth and captain Jim Furyk in the media, as well as reports of an altercation between Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

• Jim Furyk shoots down Patrick Reed’s criticism

• Phil Mickelson slates ‘almost unplayable’ Ryder Cup course

“It’s a shame to see guys talking independently to the media and kind of throwing each other under the bus a little bit,” said Rose, for whom the match at Le Golf National was his fifth Ryder Cup.

“For me, the American team is quite a united front. They’re a good bunch of guys. You’ve got Phil and Tiger who are the elder statesmen of the team and all the young guys really look up to them.

“I thought Patrick and Tiger were a great pairing. Tiger has a lot of respect for Patrick and obviously vice-versa, and it was interesting to hear Jim come out and say that was a planned pairing. I thought Patrick would be a great fit for Tiger.

Whilst the 17½-10½ scoreline would imply quite a gulf between the two teams, Rose believes the Europeans coming into the match a little fresher was the single biggest difference between the sides.

• Our ratings of the entire US team

• Former Open champ hits out at Reed

“The whole American team was tired,” he added. “I truly believe that was our greatest advantage. Our guys had played a lot less golf coming into the Ryder Cup than the American team had.

“Ultimately, at the top end of sport, we’re all very closely matched but, when you give a team a little bit of an advantage in mental freshness, it often is the difference maker.”