Justin Rose to sponsor seven tournaments for female pros

Former world No.1 Justin Rose has announced that he is to sponsor a new seven-tournament series for female professional golfers in the UK.

The Justin Rose Ladies Series is designed to plug the competitive void caused by the coronavirus and will get underway on June 18 with an event at Brockenhurst Manor in Hampshire. It will also visit Royal St George’s in Kent before finishing with a two-day grand finale at a ‘to be confirmed’ venue in July.

All of the events will be broadcast by Sky Sports Golf.

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Rose, who is set to compete in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge as the PGA Tour returns to action, is thought to be contributing £35,000 of his own money to part-fund the series.

“I am keenly aware that I now have the opportunity to go back to work and compete on the PGA Tour but this is not the same for the ladies and some junior tours as well,” said Rose, currently the world No 14.

“I am sad that the Ladies European Tour has been suffering so badly and doesn’t really have a start date yet from what I know. To me this seems somewhat unfair my wife Kate and I felt there was an opportunity to step up and help.

“The prize money is modest because it is me throwing in some money and then the ladies are paying an entry fee and being able to play for a pot. We wanted to give them the opportunity to play and to be ready for when the opportunities arise later in the summer.”

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Rose’ wife Kate explained that the decision to help came after the couple read about  the efforts of Ladies European Tour star Liz Young to organise her own ladies’ tournament at Brockenhurst Manor.

“I read about what Liz was trying to do and thought that Justin and I had to help,” she said. “It is so important for the visibility of ladies’ golf that they can play at good courses and on TV because they need to be out there to both attract sponsors and keep their current sponsors happy as well as allowing more people to get to know who they are.”