The game of golf is rarely fair and professional golf is no different.
Justin Rose is unlikely to ever win the Masters after another heartbreaking loss on Sunday.
Like many others before him, the Englishman has been right there so many times, and the cruelty is that we won’t get to see him show up at Augusta every April for decades to come to prepare it or enjoy the Champions Dinner with his peers, where he surely belongs.
Rose will be the Tom Weiskopf or Greg Norman of this era
At 45, it’s hard to imagine Rose getting a better opportunity than the one he had Sunday.
After making three consecutive birdies to close his front nine, he stood on the 10th with a two-shot lead over Cameron Young and a runaway Rory McIlroy.
It’s easy to say in retrospect, but all Rose had to do was shoot a 36 on the second nine to finally wear his green jacket. Instead, everything went wrong and it all happened so fast.
Uncertainty struck on the difficult 11th from the middle of the fairway. Rose pulled back and hit an uncommitted approach to the right edge of the green and made bogey. On the 12th, he chipped in from behind the green and added another bogey.
Looking to get back on the 13th, Rose took a good look at the eagle straight across the hole and failed to make the return, resulting in a three-shot tie.
Still with a chance to make something happen in the final two holes, Rose birdied the 17th.
“Nandina” has been his kryptonite in the race at Augusta.
This time, he missed a three-footer for the first that ended his chance to birdie the 18th to force McIlroy to par to win.
Despite the success, Rose’s scar tissue at Augusta may be understated
I have a ton of great things to say about Rose, but it feels like the burden of winning the Masters may finally be too much for him to overcome at this point in his career.
This goes back 19 years.
In 2007, Rose split the lead in the first round. He remained within two strokes heading into the final round. But Rose opened with two bogeys and a bogey in his first four holes to exit the tournament… or so you would think. The Englishman enjoys being the underdog and while everyone else was split, he made five birdies to take a shot off the lead. Then he made another bogey on the—you guessed it—17th hole.
Rose shared another first-round lead the following year before falling out of contention.
He struggled more in the next decade, but 2017 remains his biggest missed opportunity.
Seeing a short birdie putt on the 13th to take a three-shot lead over Sergio Garcia, Rose missed it, allowing the Spaniard to gain momentum. Garcia tied it with an eagle on the 15th, but Rose responded with a birdie on the 16th for the lead. That meant the 17th was approaching again. Rose missed another shot short to take the lead on the 72nd hole and lost in a playoff.
Four years later, Rose shot a 65 on Thursday to take a four-stroke lead. He failed to perform at the levels of the rest of the week.
In 2025, Rose carried all the momentum with a remarkable charge Sunday to take the lead in 17th. And, once again, he missed a short putt for bogey before ultimately losing the playoff to McIlroy.
That’s a lot of scar tissue and time is not on his side to get over it like McIlroy did.
No one deserves a green jacket more than Rose
My respect for Roza is immense.
He seemed like the ideal candidate to take a big payday from LIV Golf and switch tournaments. When 2022 began, Rose was falling out of the top 50 in the world rankings and struggling with his game. Many of his veteran counterparts took the money and have been non-competitive ever since.
But Rose stood her ground. He has been clear that his only motivation now is legacy. In his mid-40s, Rose has kept himself in good shape and has recorded five top 10s in his last 12 major starts.
A few years ago, his range was understandably in decline. Now, in 2026, Rose is above average in distance as one of the oldest players on the PGA Tour.
Rose is unique in this era with its longevity, durability and class.
He is a showman on the course, always ready to interact with the crowds and entertain the viewers. With personalities increasingly common in golf, Rose is a reminder that the sport is fun, after all.
And while many players may have left fans feeling like legacies and the history of the game mean less than maximizing career earnings, Rose has been the opposite.
Like Weiskopf and Norman before him, Rose now looks set to be the player of this era who never wears the green jacket despite so many chances. It’s a heartbreaking reality.
Let’s hope Rose can stay in great shape by keeping his game sharp and, perhaps, one April next, the holidays will finally fall his way to etch his name into Masters immortality.
Top Photo Caption: Justin Rose again at the Masters. (GETTY IMAGES/Hector Vivas)
