Rose draws inspiration from past Masters near-misses

Justin Rose is determined to capitalize on his past experiences at Augusta National, where he has come close to winning on multiple occasions. Despite his near-misses, Rose remains optimistic, stating that these experiences have only strengthened his belief in his ability to win at The Masters. The former world No 1 has already secured a win on the PGA Tour this season at the Farmers Insurance Open and boasts an impressive record at The Masters, including a narrow loss to Rory McIlroy last year. Rose also finished tied-second behind Jordan Spieth in 2015 and lost in a play-off to Sergio Garcia in 2017. Since then, he has achieved 10 top-10 finishes in majors, including a runner-up finish to Xander Schauffele at The Open in 2024 and a play-off loss to McIlroy at The Masters the following year. Rose expressed his confidence, saying, "I hope my near-misses at The Masters only boost my belief that I can win. I feel like I've done what it takes to win; I just haven't crossed the finish line. I've executed well enough to have done the job." Rose took a three-shot lead after the opening day of last year's contest and held a one-shot advantage heading into the weekend. However, he fell seven behind after a third-round 75 before making a dramatic Sunday comeback. When reflecting on his past experiences, Rose said, "When you realize you're that close, you can taste the victory. You know what it would feel like had it been the other way around. I could see what it felt like. I could see the celebrations. It all played out right in front of me." Rose identified Saturday afternoon as the missed opportunity, saying, "That's the day I'm frustrated and mad about - 40 putts or 38 putts or something crazy like that. That was the day I lost it really, and then did a great job on Sunday - walked away on Sunday feeling like I gave it everything." If Rose wins this year, he would become the second-oldest winner of The Masters in history, just a year younger than Jack Nicklaus when he claimed his 18th major title in 1986. Rose, who turns 46 in July, insists that age is not a factor, saying, "I don't think about it on a day-to-day level. Happy that the narrative around it is more positive than negative, for the most part. Definitely, there is some motivation there to keep going, keep pushing, try to find new habits, new ways of trying to get better." Rose believes that he can still improve his game significantly, regardless of his age, and is motivated to continue working on his skills. He concluded, "Still feel like there's areas of my game that I can improve on significantly and easily without age being a factor to those areas of my game. Still enjoying the work really, I think, and that's the most important thing. When you enjoy it, you don't feel your age."