{"id":434206,"date":"2025-04-22T17:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/?p=434206"},"modified":"2025-04-23T16:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T16:40:26","slug":"justin-roses-major-glory-gone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/justin-roses-major-glory-gone\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Last Chance for Justin Rose to Claim Major Glory Gone?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At age 44, Justin Rose had come agonizingly close to winning his second major, only to fall to Rory McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff. On the back nine of his career, this may have been Rose\u2019s last big chance at capturing another major title.<\/p>\n

Masters Heartbreak<\/h2>\n

Before the first tee shot was hit during the final round at Augusta, Justin Rose was 7 shots back from the lead. Even through 9 holes, Rose was still far from threatening McIlroy. But a historic charge in the second 9 that saw Rose card 6 birdies left him within an arm’s length as he walked off 18. McIlroy\u2019s bogey on 18 would see them face off in a playoff, which ended in McIlroy draining a birdie putt on the first extra hole to end it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even more heartbreaking for Rose is that this was not the first time his Master’s ended like this. This year\u2019s Masters<\/a> marked the second time Rose has lost in a playoff at Augusta, the first being in 2017 when Sergio Garcia edged him in another dramatic Sunday duel. But even experiencing it before a playoff loss at The Masters still hurts the same<\/p>\n

\u201cI was gutted when I walked off the course,\u201d said Rose. \u201cBut I left it all out there. I played some of the best golf of my life on the back nine. I\u2019m proud of that. But yeah\u2026 this one\u2019s going to stay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it should. Rose birdied six of the final eight holes to shoot a closing 66 and force a playoff, only to watch McIlroy drain a birdie putt on the first extra hole that ended it. While the golf world celebrated McIlroy\u2019s historic grand slam,<\/a> Rose was left to reflect on yet another missed Masters\u2014his fourth top-five finish at Augusta without a win.<\/p>\n

The Last Dance?<\/h2>\n

Rose has had a roller coaster of a year so far. In his 7 starts this year, he has missed the cut 3 times and had another T47 finish. But the rest of his starts have all finished inside the top 8. It\u2019s fair to assume that when Rose has been on it, his game is as good as anyone’s.<\/p>\n

He broke a long winless drought by capturing the 2023 Pebble Beach Pro-Am and followed it with solid performances throughout 2024, including a runner-up finish at the Open Championship at Royal Troon, even leading during the final round. But even when he\u2019s not at the top of his game, we know the experience and nerve Rose has to get over the line.<\/p>\n

Physically, Rose is still capable. His swing remains one of the most technically sound on Tour, and his fitness and discipline have helped him avoid the kind of injuries that derail many veterans. Mentally, he\u2019s as sharp as ever\u2014driven, focused, and equipped with over two decades of major championship experience. But the margins are razor-thin at the top, and the younger generation\u2014Scheffler, Morikawa, Hovland\u2014aren\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n

His Next Chances<\/h2>\n

As for the upcoming majors, Rose\u2019s chances are far from gone. He\u2019s always been solid at the U.S. Open, which he won in 2013, and this year\u2019s venue, Oakmont, rewards precision and experience. At Quail Hollow for the PGA Championship, he\u2019ll need to keep pace with bombers, but his short game and scrambling could keep him competitive. The Open at Royal Porthcawl may actually present his best remaining chance. He\u2019ll have the home crowd, the links experience, and the motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not done,\u201d Rose said during the RBC Heritage media day<\/a> this week. \u201cThis loss hurts, yeah, but it\u2019s also motivating. I know I can still win at this level. Augusta showed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s anyone’s guess as to whether or not Rose\u2019s confidence turns into silverware. What we do know is Rose doesn\u2019t have many more chances being a couple of months away from the big 45. But if this Masters was Rose\u2019s last, best chance at major No. 2, he didn\u2019t go quietly. He fought, surged, and made it compelling. Maybe he showed there\u2019s still one more great Sunday left in him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At age 44, Justin Rose had come agonizingly close to winning his second major, only to fall to Rory McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff. On the back nine of his career, this may have been Rose\u2019s last big chance at capturing another major title. Masters Heartbreak Before the first tee shot was hit during the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4860,"featured_media":434280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,246],"tags":[73,22],"class_list":["post-434206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-golf-news","tag-justin-rose","tag-the-masters"],"modified_by":"yobodev","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4860"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}