Justin Rose is determined to put last year’s dramatic playoff defeat behind him and prove he still has the quality to win at Augusta.
Rose Reflects on Near Misses
Rose’s name appears twice on the tournament record boards at Augusta National. He lost in a playoff to Sergio García in 2017 and Rory McIlroy last year. Ben Hogan is the only other player in Masters history to lose two playoffs; however, he won it twice outright.
Rose also finished second behind Jordan Spieth in 2015. Tom Weiskopf finished second four times without winning. Weiskopf said after missing a birdie putt in 1975, “I will win this tournament one day.”
Rose is 45. He is playing in his 21st Masters.
The Taste of Victory
Rose reflected on how close he came last year, watching McIlroy make a birdie putt on 18 to beat him by one in the playoff.
“When you realise you’re that close, you can taste the victory,” Rose says. “You know what it would feel like if it been the other way around. I could see what it felt like, I can see the celebrations, it all played out right in front of me. So I lived it as if I’d have won it, but obviously without any of the real positive emotion that goes with that, but I sensed everything.”
Rose said, “I did everything that I could do. So I can live with that in a way.”
Staying Focused
Rose says he has always tried to keep his thoughts on all this squared away. He says it’s how he stays out of his own way.
“I’ve realised that when the opportunity presents itself to win a major, you can’t make it too important in the moment. Because you can’t skip through a career without a little bit of heartache and heartbreak, no chance. If you’re going to be willing to win them, you’ve got to be willing to be on the wrong side of it as well. The point is you’ve got to put yourself there. That’s the hard part.”
Rose has held a share of the lead nine separate times. “I think for me I’m very aware that I’ve been close here,” he says. “I’m very aware that I’ve had tough, tough losses here. But I also am aware that I enjoy this place. So I don’t nee