CHILDREN are rarely easy to impress. And one speaks from bitter experience. Justin Rose, though, has had something of a helpful leg-up in his attempts to make his own offspring – son Leo and daughter Charlotte – take more of an interest in his myriad achievements on the golf course.

Rose’s greatest moment at an Open championship remains his finish in 1998 here at Royal Birkdale. Just 17 years old and on his final day as an amateur, the Englishman famously chipped in from the rough on his final hole to claim a share of fourth place. Almost 20 years on it remains one of the most iconic images of Open history and now that moment has been revisited in animation form using toy building bricks.

“When your final shot is made into a Lego scene - as it was by somebody very creative - that was the moment to show your children,” revealed the 2013 US Open winner. “My kids are five and eight, and my nephew is three. You see them watch it and see them now impressed, and now it’s a Lego scene, that’s how you know it was a cool achievement.

“My manager made me aware of it, and then we saw it retweeted on Instagram. But it was fun to see. My kids watched it a couple of times. And apparently my little nephew, Billy, was enamoured with it.”

Rose set a lofty benchmark that day and it remains his highest-ever Open finish. A tie for sixth at St Andrews two years ago is his only top-10 finish as a professional while his other Open appearance over this particular course saw him settle for a share of 70th spot.

Last year’s Olympic gold medallist is at a loss to explain just why he has not done better in his home major but feels there is nothing in his golfing make-up that would preclude him putting up a sustained challenge this week.

“It’s the one tournament that I’ve dreamed about since I was a young boy and to do it at Royal Birkdale would be obviously a full-circle moment based upon what I did in 1998,” he added. “There’s no real reason for not having done better since then but it’s disappointing.

“I think maybe the expectation on me for a number of years afterwards took its toll coming back, trying to live up to that. I’ve had a few outside chances of very good weeks that I haven’t quite capitalised upon in the past. But I feel that I’m at a stage now where I can put all those past performances behind me and focus on a good week. I’ve proved that that year wasn’t a flash in the pan so I can come back to The Open a little freer now than I could for a number of years.

“I don’t want to say that if I don’t win this it’s going to be a huge hole in my career but it was the one tournament that even before I finished fourth here as an amateur, I had got to final qualifying at the age of 14 and created a bit of a story then.

“It’s definitely been a championship that I’ve had great moments in. And to win it would kind of close the book in a way on my Open Championship story. There’s no rush, but certainly I’m into the do-it-now phase of my career.”

At 36 years old he is far from the gnarled veteran but he is within an age bracket that has been kind to Open champions in recent seasons. Over the past decade only two players – Rory McIlroy and Louis Oosthuizen – were younger than Rose is now when they lifted the Claret Jug.

Links golf often rewards nuanced, shot-making and knowing how to play it best often comes only with age.

“There’s a lot of experience required to play links golf,” agreed Rose. “I think it’s a form of golf you can learn to love over the years -- it doesn’t feel immediately natural. But I think that you can learn to love it.

“I think the ball runs a long way so the course can play relatively short. Great course management is incredibly important in an Open championship and maybe older players have learned that skill and have a bit more patience.”