section_path: Professional career/European Tour
section_name: European Tour
paragraph_text: European Tour
  
  The day after his success at the 1998 Open Championship, Rose turned professional. Rose struggled badly in his early career. He missed the cut in his first 21 consecutive events, including the European Tour qualifying school in 1998. He earned his first European Tour card when he finished 4th at the qualifying school in 1999. The following season he failed to retain his card and had to revisit the qualifying school, where he finished 9th.
  
  Despite his early career struggles, Rose's career soon began to take off and he became established on the European Tour. In 2001, he opened the season with consecutive second-place finishes in South Africa. He went on to finish the year in top-40 on the Order of Merit. He won his first professional event, the Dunhill Championship in South Africa, in 2002, and followed this up with three further victories in that year. They included another win in South Africa at the Nashua Masters, a win on the Japan Golf Tour at The Crowns Tournament, and then he won his second European Tour title at the Victor Chandler British Masters, edging out Ian Poulter in the final round.
  
  In 2003, Rose reached number 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned enough money to claim his PGA Tour card as a non-member for 2004 after finishing with more money than the 125th ranked player on the money list. In 2004, he played mostly in America on the PGA Tour while also maintaining his membership on the European Tour. He did not have a great year and slipped out of the top 50 in the world rankings; however, he kept his tour card after earning in excess of a million dollars.
  
  His ranking continued to fall in early 2005, and in March he announced that he was quitting the European Tour and concentrating on playing on the PGA Tour. This had no apparent effect on his poor form, and by the middle of the year, he had fallen out of the World's top 100. In August of that year, he made an about-face by announcing his intention to return to the European Tour. Later the same week he had his best result of the year, leading the Buick Championship in Connecticut after three rounds before slipping to a third-place finish. A couple of further good results followed late in the 2005 season, and he maintained his status on the PGA Tour after all.
  
  In September 2006 at the Canadian Open, Rose led a PGA Tour tournament going into the final round for the first time. But he slipped up with a final round 74 which moved him down the field. He went on to finish 2nd at the Valero Texas Open and finished 47th on the money list with US$1.629 million in prize money. In November 2006 he won the Australian Masters, to claim his first title for four years. His renewed consistency, including a top 5 finish at the 2007 Masters, saw him surpass his previous best world ranking, by reaching number 26 on 8 April 2007.
  
  Rose lost in a playoff at the 2007 BMW PGA Championship but moved into the top twenty of the World Rankings for the first time. By October he had reached a new career high of 12 and became the top-ranked British golfer. Rose won the European Tour Order of Merit title for 2007 in a thrilling climax to the season at the Volvo Masters, which he won in a playoff on 4 November. His new world ranking of number 7 made him the top-ranked European golfer for the first time, and he subsequently moved up to sixth in the rankings. Since the end of 2009, Canadian golf instructor Sean Foley coaches Rose.
  
  The day after his success at the 1998 Open Championship, Rose turned professional. Rose struggled badly in his early career. He missed the cut in his first 21 consecutive events, including the European Tour qualifying school in 1998. He earned his first European Tour card when he finished 4th at the qualifying school in 1999. The following season he failed to retain his card and had to revisit the qualifying school, where he finished 9th.
  
  Despite his early career struggles, Rose's career soon began to take off and he became established on the European Tour. In 2001, he opened the season with consecutive second-place finishes in South Africa. He went on to finish the year in top-40 on the Order of Merit. He won his first professional event, the Dunhill Championship in South Africa, in 2002, and followed this up with three further victories in that year. They included another win in South Africa at the Nashua Masters, a win on the Japan Golf Tour at The Crowns Tournament, and then he won his second European Tour title at the Victor Chandler British Masters, edging out Ian Poulter in the final round.
  
  In 2003, Rose reached number 33 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned enough money to claim his PGA Tour card as a non-member for 2004 after finishing with more money than the 125th ranked player on the money list. In 2004, he played mostly in America on the PGA Tour while also maintaining his membership on the European Tour. He did not have a great year and slipped out of the top 50 in the world rankings; however, he kept his tour card after earning in excess of a million dollars.
  
  His ranking continued to fall in early 2005, and in March he announced that he was quitting the European Tour and concentrating on playing on the PGA Tour. This had no apparent effect on his poor form, and by the middle of the year, he had fallen out of the World's top 100. In August of that year, he made an about-face by announcing his intention to return to the European Tour. Later the same week he had his best result of the year, leading the Buick Championship in Connecticut after three rounds before slipping to a third-place finish. A couple of further good results followed late in the 2005 season, and he maintained his status on the PGA Tour after all.
  
  In September 2006 at the Canadian Open, Rose led a PGA Tour tournament going into the final round for the first time. But he slipped up with a final round 74 which moved him down the field. He went on to finish 2nd at the Valero Texas Open and finished 47th on the money list with US$1.629 million in prize money. In November 2006 he won the Australian Masters, to claim his first title for four years. His renewed consistency, including a top 5 finish at the 2007 Masters, saw him surpass his previous best world ranking, by reaching number 26 on 8 April 2007.
  
  Rose lost in a playoff at the 2007 BMW PGA Championship but moved into the top twenty of the World Rankings for the first time. By October he had reached a new career high of 12 and became the top-ranked British golfer. Rose won the European Tour Order of Merit title for 2007 in a thrilling climax to the season at the Volvo Masters, which he won in a playoff on 4 November. His new world ranking of number 7 made him the top-ranked European golfer for the first time, and he subsequently moved up to sixth in the rankings. Since the end of 2009, Canadian golf instructor Sean Foley coaches Rose.