England’s Justin Rose admitted that the Masters slipped away, but refused to second-guess himself after a fine performance on Sunday.
Rose traded blows with long-time friend and Ryder Cup teammate all day on Sunday, and even had a three-shot lead going into the final six holes. A par on 13 and a bogey on 17, when he failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker allowed Garcia back into the contest, a gap which the Spaniard took to claim his first Major title.
‘Yeah, I would say this one probably is one that slipped by, for sure,’ Rose said after losing the playoff on Sunday.
‘I mean, I can’t pick holes in my performance. I felt fantastic out there. I felt cool, calm and collected.
Could I have made the putt on 17? Of course I could. But for the most part, I’m not going to sit here and second-guess one or two shots. I really stepped up. I felt great. I felt in control. I felt positive. I felt confident.
‘And you know, barring a great comeback from Sergio, it was mine to cruise to the house. But it’s not always that easy.’
Rose already has a Major under his belt. He beat Jason Day and Phil Mickelson by two strokes at the 2013 US Open, and knows that if you want to win the biggest events, you must be prepared to lose them.
‘At the end of the day, you’re going to win – I always said, before I won at Merion, you’re going to win majors and you’re going to lose majors, but you’ve got to be willing to lose them. You’ve got to put yourself out there. You’ve got to hit the top of the leaderboard.
‘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.’
