AUGUSTA, Ga. — When English golfer Justin Rose walked off the 10th hole of Augusta National Golf Club in the final round of the 89th Masters on Sunday, he was six strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy.
Rose, who had led each of the first two rounds, was about to begin the three-hole stretch of the iconic Amen Corner, where so many dreams of winning green jackets have gone to die.
Incredibly, Rose made three straight birdies on Nos. 11-13 to play his way back into the tournament, especially after McIlroy made a bogey on the par-4 11th and a double-bogey on the par-5 13th after hitting his third shot into the water. Rose made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and was tied for the lead at 11-under.
“Something happened, for sure, around the middle of round,” Rose said. “I just kind of went into the place that you dream about going to. I felt so good with my game. Felt so good with my mind. I began to sense that I was playing my way into the tournament. I was laser focused out there.”
The 2013 U.S. Open champion came within one shot of winning his second major championship on Sunday after posting a 6-under 66 to chase down McIlroy. After making a bogey on No. 17, Rose sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th to tie McIlroy and grab the clubhouse lead at 11 under. He called it “the kind of putt you dream about as a kid.”
“You know, [I] really didn’t look at a leaderboard all day until the 18th green, and I could hear from the crowd on 17 that I was in the mix,” Rose said. “And then on 18, I figured Rory was behind me. I needed to make that putt to kind of give myself some hope.”
As Rose hit balls at the practice area, he heard the patrons roar when McIlroy made a birdie on the 17th to go up one. Then he heard them groan when McIlroy missed a five-footer for par on the 18th to force a playoff.
In the sudden-death playoff, both players hit their drives into the fairway on the par-4 18th. Rose’s second shot would have been good to beat most golfers; his approach from 187 yards nearly hit the hole on the fly and rolled 15 feet past the cup. But McIlroy’s second shot was even closer, after his ball hit the green above the hole and rolled back to 4 feet.
Rose barely missed his birdie try and McIlroy made his to capture a green jacket they both desperately wanted.
“Unfortunately, the playoff, they always end so quickly,” Rose said. “You know, that’s sudden death. You don’t really get an opportunity. If you’re not the guy to hit the great shot or hole the great putt, it’s over. That’s the nature of sudden death, but not really anything I could have done more today.”
It was the second time Rose was on the wrong end of a playoff in the Masters. In the last one in 2017, Rose missed a 7-footer for birdie on the 18th hole, forcing a playoff with Spain‘s Sergio Garcia. In sudden-death, Rose hit his tee shot into the trees and had to punch out. He made a bogey, while Garcia sank a birdie putt to win.
Rose also tied for runner-up at the 2015 Masters, four strokes behind winner Jordan Spieth.
“What do you choose to dwell on, you know what I mean?” Rose said. “There’s no point in being too despondent about it and you look at all the good stuff that got me into this situation. 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. It nets out.”
On the 18th green Sunday, Rose congratulated McIlroy, his friend and Ryder Cup teammate.
“I said to him, ‘Listen, I was glad I was here on this green to witness you win the career Grand Slam,'” Rose said. “That’s such a cool, momentous moment in the game of golf. Yeah, that was it. He was obviously pretty overcome with emotion and probably not going to be able to take in much at the time. But it was a big day in golf.”
It was a big week for Rose, too. It was his second straight runner-up in a major-he tied for second at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland, two strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele. Rose has finished second in five of his 81 career starts in majors.
“It’s a bogey away from being the greatest round I’ve ever played,” Rose said. “It is a great round. I think if you look at the quality of golf, it possibly, possibly is.”
McIlroy hopes Rose has another opportunity to win a major.
“He’s a great champion,” McIlroy said. “He has displayed so much grace throughout his career. You know, selfishly, I was happy that it was another Euro in the playoff. We’re on a good run at the minute. We’re Ryder Cup year and all that.
“He’s had a phenomenal record around here, and I feel for him a little bit because he’s been so close. He’s a good friend, and hopefully he has a few more opportunities.”
Source: espn.com