Rose on Race to Dubai: 'That's my challenge now'

• By Ryan Lavner
• Oct 17, 2012 9:29 AM ET

It wasn’t just his victory last week at the Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals that made Justin Rose believe that 2013 could be a career-changing year.

No, if you look at his record, at the tournaments he has won, it is becoming clearer by the day. “I like the way I’m trending,” he said Wednesday.

The Englishman won the Cadillac Championship in March, a World Golf Championships event. Last year, he captured the BMW Championship, a FedEx Cup playoff event. And in 2010, he won twice, at The Memorial Tournament and AT&T National, both of which boast strong, invitation-only fields.

“I’m at the stage of my career now where I should almost focus on the majors singlehandedly,” he said on “Morning Drive.” “I think I can still be a prolific winner, and that’s still the goal, but I do believe my game is at a point where, hopefully, the major championships just get in the way (of winning).

“When I tee it up, I know that I have everything I need; the self-belief was the final piece of that puzzle.”

Though the Turkish event was dismissed by many as a meaningless exhibition with $1.5 million going to the winner, Rose, 32, viewed the tournament another way: He was competing against seven of the best players in the world. It was another opportunity to showcase his immense talent.

His pockets even more comfortably padded, the world No. 5 will now return his focus to the European Tour and the Race to Dubai. Rose is currently second in the yearlong standings, €437,334 behind Rory McIlroy, and he’s scheduled to play the BMW Masters, HSBC Champions and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“That’s my challenge right now,” Rose said, “to stay fresh and hungry and grind it out. I have got Rory in my sights, but it’s going to have to be a stellar end to the year.”