Some remarked with curiosity a few weeks ago at the Memorial when Justin Rose was spotted chatting with Mark Steinberg, agent for Tiger Woods and, recently, Matt Kuchar.

Curiosity turned to confirmed hunches when Golf Digest’s Tim Rosaforte reported that Rose would indeed be signing with Steinberg via his Excel Sports Management company.

The revelation comes less than a week after Rose captured his first major championship in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club outside of Philadelphia.

Rosaforte reported that with the addition of Rose to his stable, Steinberg can now claim the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 players in the Official World Golf Rankings as his clients. Steinberg’s is a full, very fruitful plate to be sure.

Rosaforte also made the point that as a member of TaylorMade’s staff of players, Rose has played a somewhat back-seat role in the company’s marketing efforts to the likes of Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. But at Excel, that all is likely to change.

Back when Woods was Steinberg’s only main client, he transformed from golf phenom into one of the most recognizable individuals — athlete or otherwise — in the world. It is unlikely that Rose or Kuchar will ultimately be viewed with Woods as the most transcendental figures in modern sport, but Steinberg has significantly raised Kuchar’s public profile to new heights and should be counted on to do the same for Rose.

Kuchar has certainly helped his own cause, too, with his three wins the last two seasons coming at The Players, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2012) and the Memorial (2013) — all among the most prestigious non-major championships. And while winning may take care of “everything,” Steinberg and Excel have made sure that the ancillary benefits of Kuchar’s competitive success have been significant. To see his appearances in Bridgestone ads and watch and listen to interviews with him, the family-man image projected rivals that of Phil Mickelson, which is a testament to Steinberg’s own marketing prowess with a less exceptional (but certainly still impressive) player.

That success bodes well for Rose’s new relationship with Excel, as the Englishman enjoys a positive, if muted, public image. That will change as he has not outstripped the aforementioned Johnson and Garcia by way of his major championship victory. It also helps that while he is from abroad, his victory on American soil ties him to the American golfing public more closely than most Europeans, especially when the Ryder Cup rolls around.

Rose’s U.S. Open triumph washes away some of the lingering sting of the final day of the 2012 Ryder Cup, when Rose turned a two-stroke deficit into a victory in singles play over Phil Mickelson en route to Europe’s stunning defeat of the Yanks at Medinah. Now that Steinberg is at the helm of Rose’s brand, expect that wound to heal quickly and almost completely.

Rose made himself a star last Sunday at Merion; Steinberg and Excel will now set to work providing the best and most lucrative fuel for Rose’s future off the course.