Justin Rose has now lost in a playoff at the Masters twice in his career. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Michael Reaves via Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Rose almost got in the way of golf history on Sunday afternoon.
But to the delight of perhaps just about everyone watching, both at Augusta National Golf Club and around the world, he failed.
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Rose, after a very makable putt went just past the cup on the 18th green, could only watch as Rory McIlroy sank his putt to win the Masters on Sunday. That set off an all-time celebration on the green and made McIlroy just the sixth person to complete the career grand slam in golf history.
And Rose, who managed to pull off one of the best weeks of golf in his career, had to walk off the course knowing that he came painfully short on golf’s biggest stage yet again.
“It hurts,” he said before taking a very, very long pause. “What are you going to do about it though, right?”
Rose, who took a three-shot lead after the opening round and held onto it into the weekend, fell behind by seven shots at one point on Sunday. He posted a 75 on Saturday to drop back, too. But, while ignoring the massive white manual scoreboards placed throughout the course on Sunday, Rose fought his way back into the tournament little by little. And, to his benefit, McIlroy nearly gave it away a few groups behind him.
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Rose shot a 6-under 66 on Sunday and recorded 10 birdies, which is just one shy of the single round record at the Masters. He drained a 20-foot putt at the 18th, too, which got him to 11-under and eventually forced the playoff with McIlroy. When he reflected back on his round after, Rose said it was one of the best outings of golf he’s ever had even with the four bogeys on his scorecard.
“It’s the kind of putt you dream about as a kid, and you have it and hole it,” Rose said. “It was a special feeling.”
But Rose missed his birdie putt on the first playoff hole. That opened the door for McIlroy to finally win the Masters for the first time in his career.
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Rose, a former top-ranked golfer in the world, has now come in second at the Masters three times in his career. This is his second playoff loss, too, following one to Sergio Garcia in 2017. Rose is now one of just two golfers in history to lose multiple Masters playoffs. Tom Weiskopf is the only other person to have more runner-up finishes than him, too.
While he has every reason to be upset and down, Rose was in an unusually good mood after his playoff loss. The perspective he managed to keep, even in the immediate aftermath of yet another career heartbreak, is one that very few golfers on the PGA Tour are capable of.
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“What do you choose to dwell on, you know what I mean? There’s no point in being too despondent about it, and you look at all the good stuff that got me into this situation,” Rose said. “You can’t skip through a career without a little bit of heartache. It’s not going to happen. If you’re willing to lift the big championships, you’ve to put yourself on the line. You have to risk feeling this way to get the reverse.”
Rose knows what he got to witness, too.
“We saw part of history today. Someone won the career grand slam,” Rose said. “It’s a momentous day in the game of golf.”
But as long as he’s able to, Rose will keep trying — even if that means more devastating nights driving away from Augusta National. After all, he said, he’s living his childhood dreams.
“One day, I won’t be competing this way at this tournament,” Rose said. “So you know, for now, the hard work is totally worth it. To get these little moments, they are very special.”
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