Rose Gains Confidence from Past Masters Near-Misses

Justin Rose remains determined to claim victory at The Masters, drawing motivation from his previous near-misses at Augusta National. Despite finishing as runner-up on multiple occasions, including a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy last year, Rose believes these experiences have strengthened his conviction that he can win the tournament. The former world No 1 has already achieved success on the PGA Tour this season with a win at the Farmers Insurance Open. His impressive record at The Masters includes a narrow loss to McIlroy and two other runner-up finishes, one to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and another to Sergio Garcia in 2017. Rose has registered 10 top-10 finishes in majors since his 2017 disappointment, including a runner-up finish to Xander Schauffele at The Open in 2024. He expressed his optimism, stating, "I hope it only boosts my belief that I can go ahead and do it. I feel like I've pretty much done what it takes to win. I just haven't walked over the line." Rose led the field by three shots 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 near-miss, Rose said, "When you realise 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." A victory for Rose this year would make him the second-oldest winner of The Masters in history. Rose, who turns 46 in July, is just a year younger than Jack Nicklaus when he claimed his last major title in 1986. Despite his age, Rose remains focused on improving his game, stating, "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." The Masters will be broadcast exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports, with live coverage of the first round beginning on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf.