AUGUSTA — As Rory McIlroy slipped on a green jacket while overcome with emotions, Justin Rose sat in the media room trying to compose his.
He bit his finger. He stroked his hair. He rubbed his forehead. He took long pauses and deep breaths. Disappointment washed over him. It was clear deeper emotions would be saved for a more private audience.
Another playoff loss at Augusta. It’s impossible to put into words. Rose did his best. He appraised himself admirably.
“It hurts,” Rose said.
Long pause.
“Disappointing,” Rose said.
Head rub.
“I think to lose in a playoff for the second time kind of punctuates both of them and makes you realize just how close you've been.”
Nothing, in the long run, will erase this heartache. It’s too deep of a cut for the scar to disappear. A second scar to go with the first after losing to Sergio Garcia in the 2017 Masters.
There are more from other near misses at the majors. Last year at Royal Troon, he finished T2 to Xander Schauffele. He won a U.S. Open in 2013. The wins don't supersede the losses. This one cuts as deep as any.
“What do you choose to dwell on, you know what I mean?” Rose said. “There's no point in being too despondent about it and you look at all the good stuff that got me into this situation. You can't skip through a career without a little bit of heartache. It’s not going to happen. If you’re willing to lift the big championships, you’ve to put yourself on the line. You have to risk feeling this way to get the reverse.”
McIlroy has experienced this feeling. Too many times to count at this point. He did what Rose said. He kept battling. He rose from the ashes. He’s a champion once more.
At 44 years old, however, how many more chances does Rose have?
“He’s a great champion,” McIlroy said. “He has displayed so much grace throughout his career. He’s a good friend, and yeah, hopefully, he has a few more opportunities.”
If this was Rose’s last chance, he did everything he could. He trailed by seven shots on Sunday but made 10 birdies, punctuated by a putt on 18 that eventually earned a spot in a playoff.
Not much more he could have done.
“Something happened, for sure, around the middle of round. I just kind of went into the place that you dream about going to,” Rose said. “I felt so good with my game. Felt so good with my mind. I began to sense that I was playing my way into the tournament. I was laser-focused out there.”
On the 18th green, after hitting it to 20 feet, Rose’s playing partner, Zach Johnson, approached Rose and asked him if he wanted Johnson to play first, even though Rose was away.
“Do whatever you want,” Rose told Johnson, “but I would love more time.”
That time proved critical. Rose made the putt, a slider downhill that disappeared from view and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Rose took his hat off, let out a primal roar and celebrated one of the most crucial putts of his life.
"It’s the kind of putt you dream about as a kid," Rose said. "Unfortunately, the playoff, they always end so quickly."
Rose put this round up there amongst the best of his career. Before contextualizing it, however, he took another deep breath.
“Nearly … I mean ... I mean, nearly.”
To be so close yet so far at Augusta. Again. The pinnacle of golf. To make that run. To make that putt. Then a new wave of disappointment crashing down.
Nearly … nearly.
This scar will last forever, like the memories Rose has helped others create here at Augusta.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Justin Rose Experiences the Emotion of Falling Short at the Masters Again.
