Picture the scene. Forty yards from the final green, a tricky lie in the rough, a fearsome bunker between him and the flag.

What a time for a 17-year-old with a name which is a headline writer's dream to produce a perfect pitch, one which landed softly, skipped forward and rolled crisply into the hole for a birdie three which brought what seemed like half of north-west England to their feet in a crescendo of appreciation.

That shot secured fourth place for Rose, the best performance by an amateur in the Open since Frank Stranahan tied for second at Carnoustie in 1953.

It left him just one behind Tiger Woods and queuing up behind winner Mark O'Meara in the media tent to tell the story of an extraordinary adventure which included a second-round 66 andsaw him turn professional one week later.

Many predicted then he was destined for great things. Others warned the professional game was tougher than four days in fantasy land on a links course which perfectly suited his game. A decade on, however, no-one could deny that Rose has been a credit to himself and an inspiration to a new Brit pack.

For a start there was the way he persevered when it appeared the doom-mongers might be right. The way he smiled and reasoned his way through 21 consecutive missed cuts on the toughest of learning curves.

The way he was willing to recognise his shortcomings and put them right under the umbrella of golf guru David Leadbetter.

The courageous and dignified way he coped with the death, from cancer, of his dad and mentor.

And the way he trusted his natural talent which inevitably saw the success flow once he had secured his first professional title, the Dunhill Championship in South Africa, the country of his birth, in 2002.

He followed that up with three further victories that year and while in those early days his game was riddled with inconsistency there has always been the promise of something extraordinary.

It could come this year at the course which has so much good karma for Rose, who married long-time girlfriend Kate Phillips, a British former international gymnast, in December 2006. The positives, personal and professional, have been building.

He won the Australian Masters in 2006 and 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 play-off.

His world ranking moved up to a career-high sixth and he has begun to knock at the door in golf's majors with some regularity. He led the US Masters after the first round in 2007, recording a top-five finish, although this spring he did slump from a first round 68 to finish 36th.

For someone with such obvious talent the criticism is that he has flattered to deceive too often and his missed cut in the recent US Open was not his finest moment.

But the signs are that destiny is calling.

How wonderful for European golf if he could fly to Kentucky to take on the Americans with the old claret jug in his possession.

With that in mind Rose returned to Royal Birkdale in May for the first time since those daring deeds of 1998 to engage in a spot of nostalgia but also to plot a route to victory.

He said: "I wanted to go back and re-live the memories. I gained a lot of information as well and I was certainly having a good look around. It was fun.''

Ten years on it could be time for Rose, pictured, to get serious and win that first major.