{"id":31068,"date":"2025-04-18T20:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T20:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/31068\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T20:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T20:10:07","slug":"rose-confronts-mixed-emotions-after-masters-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/31068\/","title":{"rendered":"Rose confronts mixed emotions after Masters loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"A final-round 66 wasn\u2019t quite enough for Justin Rose.\u00a0 Kieran Cleeves, Courtesy Augusta National<\/strong><\/p>\n

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA |<\/b> The distance from Augusta National to Harbour Town Golf Links on the toe end of this shoe-shaped island is 146 miles, most of it South Carolina backcountry before Calibogue Sound comes shimmering into view.<\/p>\n

Plenty of miles and plenty of time for Justin Rose to begin to process all that went into his playoff loss to Rory McIlroy in the Masters and his role in a Sunday that will be remembered for years.<\/p>\n

Seven strokes behind when the final round began, Rose birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to cap a brilliant closing 66 that came with an enormous emotional rush, much of which was dulled by McIlroy\u2019s winning birdie on the first extra hole.<\/p>\n

Rose was a swing away, one arm figuratively in the green jacket only to wind up shaking the hand of the champion on the final green for a third time, as he did when he was paired with Jordan Spieth in 2015 and after his playoff loss to Sergio Garc\u00eda in 2017.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are only so many chances like that and, at age 44, Rose knows how precious those moments are. It\u2019s why he\u2019s still devoted to his craft and the hours in the gym and with a club in his hand, effectively fighting off what might be sundown for someone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly don\u2019t feel down in any way, shape or form just because of the performance I was able to put in and how I was able to feel putting in that performance, but just sort of \u2013 don\u2019t know what the right word is, tormented probably, by the thought of what might have been,\u201d Rose said Wednesday in advance of the PGA Tour\u2019s RBC Heritage tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously just bouncing back and forth with those two emotions. But certainly I think no regrets. You can lose a golf tournament and there\u2019s a million things that you think I should have done this differently. There\u2019s not really much I can look back and gone, I should have done that differently on the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more just like wish it would have added up to a different result than wish I would have done things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA lot of outpouring from people with a lot of positive comments coming at me, so trying to absorb that, trying to absorb the week, but at the same time looking at my phone and just wishing there was a different message there.\u201d \u2013 Justin Rose<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rose might be inclined to rewrite how Saturday went when a third-round 75 pushed him down the leaderboard, but he was spectacular on Sunday, making 10 birdies in the round including six in his final eight holes as he rushed into contention and briefly held the outright lead near the end.<\/p>\n

When McIlroy holed a 3-foot birdie putt to complete the career Grand Slam, Rose had the grace to appreciate the moment even in his own disappointment. He is still sorting through messages from friends and acquaintances.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of outpouring from people with a lot of positive comments coming at me, so trying to absorb that, trying to absorb the week, but at the same time looking at my phone and just wishing there was a different message there,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n

It was the 23rd top-10 finish in a major for Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion. It was also his fifth runner-up finish in a major, including his second in a row.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rose works at handling the moment when opportunities arise. Kieran Cleeves, Courtesy Augusta National<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Masters playoff loss to Garc\u00eda in 2017 lingered with Rose for a month afterward. Within his disappointment, Rose also found incentive, understanding he could put himself in position to win more majors.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t yet happened but Rose has given himself chances. After losing to Garc\u00eda at Augusta National, Rose pushed forward and won the FedEx Cup the following year, ascending to No. 1 in the world ranking in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see any reason why that can\u2019t be the same this time around,\u201d Rose said. \u201cI\u2019m doing the right things to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Rose turned 30 in 2010, he looked at the next decade of his career and saw 40 major championship starts ahead. When the opportunity came, Rose wanted to be prepared to handle it rather than let the moment handle him.<\/p>\n

That was the key to his victory at Merion and it freed him in a sense, eliminating the burden that comes with being a top-level player but without a major championship trophy.<\/p>\n

Having a major championship victory is comforting but pro golfers tend to be prisoners of the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take that loss pretty badly. (Monday) was tough. But had I not won a major, it would have been even more brutal, no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you do look at the majors each individually as Rory did. The Masters was elusive, even though he was a [four]-time major winner. That was the one that mattered.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut listen, I was a stone\u2019s throw away from winning the Open, winning the Masters. I would have been going for a [career] Grand Slam at the PGA. It\u2019s like, it can be that close. I\u2019ve got to believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m still creating opportunities. You can\u2019t skip throughout your career without a little heartache here and there. But I\u2019ve had the luck go my way on occasion, as well.\u201d \u2013 Justin Rose<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Leaving Augusta behind isn\u2019t as easy as heading southeast until Hilton Head Island comes into view. It helps that the RBC Heritage is a signature event with a field loaded with all of the PGA Tour\u2019s top players minus McIlroy, who flew home to Northern Ireland to celebrate with his family.<\/p>\n

Rose will head home to England after the Heritage for a two-week break but until then, he is intent on keeping his head where his feet are this week.<\/p>\n

He is playing for trophies and moments these days. Moments like the putt he holed on Friday at the 2023 Ryder Cup with his teammates watching. Moments like the final round at Royal Troon last summer when he got beat by Xander Schauffele. Moments like last Sunday at Augusta National where McIlroy got the jacket but Rose got to feel how close he came.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still creating opportunities. You can\u2019t skip throughout your career without a little heartache here and there. But I\u2019ve had the luck go my way on occasion, as well,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHope that if I can keep doing what I\u2019m doing, [I\u2019ll] get that little bit of luck to get across the line again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A final-round 66 wasn\u2019t quite enough for Justin Rose.\u00a0 Kieran Cleeves, Courtesy Augusta National HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,7640,4286,16457,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-31068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-justin-rose","10":"tag-masters","11":"tag-rbc-heritage","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114360787015718149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}