HE’S PROBABLY GOT SEVE WITH HIM RIGHT NOW.

miss on the closing hole gave Rose life in the playoff.

It took a while for the Masters to serve up its traditional Sunday drama, but just when it looked like Garcia had done very Sergio things to play himself out of yet another major, the 37-year-old Spaniard rallied.

After dropping shots on the 10th and 11th holes to fall two shots behind Rose, Garcia pulled his drive on the par-5 13th into the left bushes. He took a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie, as Rose hit his second shot just over the green for what the centre of the cup. Rose followed that with a birdie of his own, and the two were tied at 9-under going to the 16th tee. No one else on the course was anywhere near their lead.

Rose seized the lead with a birdie on the par-3 16th that Garcia couldn’t match, but the Englishman gave it back with a bogey on 17.

Sunday began with a number of players bunched behind the leaders, including Jordan Spieth, who had made Augusta National look alarmingly easy over the past few years, minus a couple of meltdowns, and Rickie Fowler, who has long looked ready to break into the major-winning club. Former Masters winners like Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel also lurked.

But in the early going, when the safe bet was that Garcia would crumple in the moment, he instead played like the guy with the least to prove. He birdied two of his first three holes, and would have done so on all three had he not missed a five-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second hole.

But his biggest moment on the opening stretch came on the seventh hole, where he went from the trees to the front bunker to above the hole — and coolly drained a downhill seven-footer to save par. Just like the par-saver he made on 18 on Saturday evening, it was the kind of putt that had killed Garcia in the before, the kind of putt that explained why he had gone 73 majors without a win.

But while the other contenders faded, allowing Garcia to build an early threeshot lead, it was his playing partner that put on the heat. Rose followed a bogey at five with three straight birdies, the last of which appeared to spook Garcia, who missed a short birdie putt at the eighth hole that would have kept him in the lead alone. Instead, the two walked to the ninth tee at 8-under, and no one else within three shots of them.

Fowler and former Masters’ champion Adam Scott had been even-par on the front nine, and first-round leader Charley Hoffman was 1-over, including an ugly double-bogey on the seventh. Most surprisingly, Spieth, who had earlier gone 29 straight holes without a bogey, had four of them on his front nine for an opening 38. The guy least likely to shoot himself out of contention had done just that.

It was down to Garcia and Rose, all but in match play as they entered the back nine. Two holes later, Rose was up by two. It was a five-shot swing over just six holes. But it turned out the drama was just getting started.