Rose holds head high
Can’t find fault in duel on final day
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Rose didn’t lose the 81st Masters Tournament. Sergio Garcia won it, which made Rose’s failure to slip into the green jacket last night after a 73-hole battle with Garcia palatable.
Could he have made the putt on 17 or 18 that would have changed the result? Certainly, but after 284 strokes, Rose wasn’t about to do that to himself. Or to Garcia.
“Barring a great comeback from Sergio, it was mine to cruise to the house — but it’s not always that easy,” said Rose not long after losing the first playoff hole to Garcia after the two finished tied at 9-under through 72 holes.
They’d begun the day tied at 6-under, so both had just shot 69 in the most revered golf tournament in the game. They had not wilted as they battled each other in what became essentially match play by early in the final round.
They excelled but Garcia just made one better swing than Rose did. So it goes in golf.
“I can’t pick holes in my performance,” Rose said after his bogey 5 on the first playoff hole was topped by Garcia’s birdie. “I’m not going to sit here and second guess one or two shots. I really stepped up. At the end of the day you’re going to win majors and you’re gong to lose majors, but you’ve got to be willing to lose them. You’ve got to put yourself out there.
“There’s a lot of pressure out there and if you’re not willing to enjoy it, then you’re not ready to win these tournaments. I loved it out there.”
Rose said he was happy that Garcia had finally gotten “that monkey off his back,” referring to the fact he was 0-73 in major championships, and added that “hopefully they’ll remember this fondly.”
Rose said he felt from the 13th hole on the tournament had become a match play event. There was a 2-shot swing there when Rose missed a birdie putt while Garcia survived taking a drop for an unplayable lie and still made par that the event became something just between them.
“I was surprised nobody was able to make a run during the front nine,” Rose said. “Sergio got off to a great start and when I birdied 6, 7 and 8 it became pretty apparent that it was me and him down the stretch.
“A couple guys had flashes of brilliance on the back nine, but for the most part it was all eyes on Sergio and he was looking at me and it came down to the back nine on Sunday here, which is what this tournament is famous for. Sergio did what he had to do to make a run and I came back at him and the last hole or two, it is what it is.”
Sad end for Els
Ernie Els’ five-year exemption into the Masters for winning the British Open ended yesterday, and if this was his final appearance it ended quietly.
Nothing was easy for the Big Easy this past weekend. After shooting 83 on Saturday he played the final round with marker Jeff Knox because he was last in an uneven field. The result was a disappointing 78, which prevented the 47-year-old Els from getting too nostalgic about things.
“I played so (expletive),” he said. “If I’d played better, I think it would have been more emotional. But I had a great day. It’s a wonderful place, a special place. It’s a place you dream of getting to once or twice. How many people get to play here 23 times?”
Not many. Els could yet make it 24 if he wins another PGA Tour event but time seems to be working against him. Prior to this weekend, he had not made the cut in a tour event in his last seven straight starts.
Els has begun working with David Leadbetter as his swing instructor, but said it’s the mental side of the game that most needs work.
Els has had three top-5 finishes and five top-10s at the Masters, but none have come since losing in 2004 when Phil Mickelson birdied the final hole as he was staying loose on the putting green in case of a playoff.
What a difference
When Tiger Woods made his incredible winning performance here 20 years ago, it led to more than “Tiger proofing” the course.
With his 1997 Masters win, Woods won $496,000 out of a total purse of $2.2 million. This year’s winner earned $1.98 million out of a total purse of $11 million. They may have “Tiger proofed” the course, but Tiger propelled the purses throughout golf. . . .
After putting his 7-iron in for a twisting hole-in-one on 16, Matt
Kucher pulled his ball from the hole, signed it and handed it to a young kid in a straw bowler hat and a Rickie Fowler orange golf shirt.
The kid stood there stunned for several minutes, clapping the ball into his hand. He kept the Fowler shirt on but he’ll probably be wearing Sketcher sneakers like Kucher by tomorrow.