If there was a single regret in witnessing one of the era’s greatest sporting moments, it came from knowing Rory McIlroy’s ascension arrived at the expense of a rose who upstaged every azalea at Augusta National.
You could fill a book with iconic pictures from this absurd and astonishing Masters Sunday, but none will be so touching, so loaded with differing feelings, as the one showing Justin Rose hugging the guy who had just beaten him.
The words of that exchange say as much about the man as his scorecard did his golf in a breathless, spellbinding, 10-birdie charge out of left-field to a play-off defeat.
Leaning in, Rose told McIlroy: ‘Listen, I was glad I was here on this green to witness you win the career grand slam. That’s such a cool, momentous moment in the game of golf.’
And there he left it, giving the stage to McIlroy and retreating to nurture his own pain in private.
The depth of that angst should not be understated, given this is a former world No 1 who has now finished runner-up three times at the Masters, twice in play-offs eight years apart, and as recently as 2023 was ranked 84th and doubting his future as an elite force.
Justin Rose hugs Rory McIlroy after losing a play-off for the Masters title at Augusta on Sunday
Rose, a former world No 1, has now finished runner-up three times at the Masters
The Englishman’s superb putt on 18 kept his hopes alive before he was beaten by McIlroy
His response to those crises was an act of later-life reinvention and serious contention at the past two majors; his reaction to the latest setback was class personified, especially in light of what he was chasing as a 44-year-old veteran in this business.
For McIlroy, there was a weight of history attached to winning his first major in more than a decade, but had Rose won, it would have been 12 years since he took the US Open. Bridging such a wait would have eclipsed the record set when Tiger Woods followed his 2008 US Open triumph with a fifth green jacket in 2019.
The cost of falling short could be seen in the redness of Roses’ eyes as he left the same green where he was beaten by Sergio Garcia in 2017. The prize is that he will surge back up to 12th in the world with no obvious barrier to a seventh Ryder Cup appearance in October. Only madness would keep him from that team and Luke Donald is eminently sane.
But those are possibilities for another day. For the time being, Rose will have wounds to nurse, albeit from a level of wider affection beyond any other stage of his career. That is quite a feat in consideration of what it includes – it was Rose who in 2013 won England’s first major since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996 and he also has an Olympic gold medal as well as his status as a former No 1.
It is a misfortune that his story collided with that of McIlroy. But if there is such a thing as victory in defeat, it might be a wider appreciation that ought to have arrived sooner. He has earned it the hard way and bounced exceptionally well off the kocks.
Indeed, if his sport had conducted itself with a fraction of his dignity in those minutes after his play-off gut punch, then maybe there wouldn’t be a parallel narrative at each tournament about split tours and civil wars.
It is to Rose’s credit that he once overcame some temptations to join those defectors to LIV. Many of his peers have suffered reputational damage for taking the loot, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter included, and a few younger guys like Jon Rahm no longer look the same player for having done so.
But at 44, Rose is still proving new points and swinging away at the biggest prizes. If there is any karma in his silly sport, he will get one.
