ROSE KNEW he missed chances to win.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As soon as the putt slipped past the cup on the first playoff hole, Justin Rose knew it was over.

He took off his cap and stood to the side of the green, resigned to his fate.

Not two hours earlier, it looked like the Masters was his for the taking.

Now, all Rose could do was watch as Sergio Garcia curled in a 12-foot birdie to finish off a dramatic duel at Augusta National.

“It was a wonderful battle with Sergio,” Rose said Sunday evening, “I just needed one or two putts coming in.”

He grimaced a bit, no doubt remembering the little 6-footer that skidded by the cup on No. 13, when he had a chance to put Garcia away after the Spaniard drove one under an azalea bush.

Or perhaps he was thinking of the 7-footer at the 17th, the one he just didn’t hit hard enough, resulting in a bogey that sent him to the 72nd hole tied with Garcia.

And he’ll never forget that final hole of regulation, his first crack at No. 18, where another 7-footer burned the edge of the cup. It really stung when Garcia missed an even shorter putt.

But Rose isn’t going to beat himself up too much.

“I would say this one probably is one that slipped by, for sure,” the 36-year-old Englishman said, quickly adding: “I can’t pick holes in my performance. I felt fantastic out there. I felt cool, calm and collected.” In the end, it wasn’t enough. As soon as it was over, Rose walked out to embrace Garcia in the middle of the green. The runner-up said a few words, patted the new Masters champion on the chest and walked away, leaving Garcia to bask in a moment he’d been chasing for nearly two decades.