This defeat really stings, admits Rose
THERE were shades of Greg Norman in the manner in which Justin Rose left the grounds of Augusta National as the unlucky loser for the second time in three years on Sunday.
Like Norman always did, Rose had shown immaculate grace in defeat, extending to a tweet that ought to become a mantra for coaches teaching sports-obsessed teenagers everywhere: ‘Incredible battle out there. Sport in the moment is tough. But it’s just sport. Hope you guys enjoyed it.’
Australian Norman might have won four green jackets in a row in the mid-1980s but ended up with none and Rose is another who keeps getting measured up before it is slipped on to someone else’s shoulders.
It’s 13 years now since he led the Masters after the first and the second rounds. Two years ago Rose turned in a 72-hole score that would have won the vast majority of Masters. This year he led, standing on the 17th tee on Sunday, and had a putt from 12ft that would have got the job done on the 18th. But still no place in the Champions’ Locker room.
‘This one is going to sting, for sure,’ he said on Sunday night, his voice cracking with emotion.
At 36, he might still have one or two more realistic chances but will there be any better opportunities than this? A putt from 6ft to go three strokes clear on the 13th?
That’s how it used to be with Norman. He’d miss a key putt and then watch the other guy play the golf of his life. Larry Mize once beat him in a play-off by holing a chip he couldn’t have replicated if he’d stayed there all night. On Sunday, Garcia eagled the 15th hole, the first champion to do so since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1994. The man suffering at Ollie’s hands on that occasion? Norman.
It’s important now, of course, that Rose stays positive. As he said afterwards, he didn’t do an awful lot wrong. He’s now been in the final group on Sunday on two occasions and shot 70 and 69. Normally, you’d fancy your chances of winning both from that position with those scores.
Let’s hope the pain he felt in his back on the 15th hole wasn’t sinister. He chose to make light of it afterwards but Rose missed much of last year with back problems.
Britain’s Olympic golf champion has got a big summer ahead. As he said: ‘Between April and September is now my priority because that contains the four tournaments that define a career.’
The US Open will always be the major that suits him best, with its premium on straight driving, but the Open is back at Birkdale, where he first came to prominence as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998.
As for the Masters, after the enormous contribution he made, Rose will have a lot more people rooting for him next year. MARTIN SAMUEL ON PEOPLE’S CHAMPION GARCIA: PAGE 89