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Justin Rose has revealed he’s got a secret weapon in his armoury as he bids to win The Masters this week. 

Or should that be, ‘carrying’ his armoury.

The world No.1’s long-time caddie Mark ‘Fooch’ Fulcher returns to the Englishman’s side this week after three months out following heart surgery.

In his absence, Henrik Stenson’s former caddie Gareth Lord has deputised and helped steer Rose to victory in the Farmers Insurance Open. 

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However, with Fulcher now back to full health, he has handed back the reins to Rose’s bag.

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“Fooch is back this week, which has been sort of a long awaited arrival for him,” said Rose. “I know time has been going very slowly for him and he’s been chomping at the bit to get back, but he’s stayed very much integrated and engaged in my game.

Justin Rose Mark Fulcher

“One of his best mates out here on tour is Gareth Lord. They have been communicating a lot with what has been going on and Fooch has come down to see me on my weeks off on a couple of occasions.”

Rose added that, once Fuclher knew he was looking good to caddie this week, he travelled out to Austin for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play a fortnight ago.

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“That was to kind of get some of the back slapping and ‘Hey, Fooch, how you doing’ out of the way, so he could focus on business this week, which was smart of him,” added Rose, who returned to the top of the world rankings today.

“I’m excited. Fooch said to Lordy, ‘You’ve got one job – just give him back to me as world No.1. The fact that the ranking switched this week was kind of a nice touch.”

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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