Golf's Good Guy Justin Rose Shares Extraordinary First Words To Rory McIlroy After Englishman's Second Masters Playoff Heartbreak

The final round of The Masters may have been billed as a US Open rematch between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, but it was Justin Rose who was in the thick of it in a dramatic finale before McIlroy made the decisive putt on the first playoff hole.

There was naturally disappointment for the Englishman to come so close to wearing the Green Jacket for the first time, only for McIlroy to complete his career Grand Slam. However, McIlroy’s friend and Ryder Cup teammate was typically gracious in defeat.

Rose explained to reporters what he had told the new champion after the history-making moment where McIlroy achieved golfing immortality to become just the sixth player to win all four Majors.

“Rory is a friend for sure,” he said. “Walked on the tee. We shake hands. That's the business end of things. When it's all said and done, I said to him, ‘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.’ Yeah, that was it. He was obviously pretty overcome with emotion and probably not going to be able to take in much at the time. But yeah, I mean - yeah, that's - it was a big day in golf.”

McIlroy’s moment of glory came after a rollercoaster of a round that put his fans through the emotional wringer. There was despondency after he gave away a two-shot lead within half an hour of the start, although he played himself into a winning position on the back nine with some typical moments of brilliance, before an inexplicable mistake on the 13^th led to his fourth double bogey of the week to allow the chasing pack back in.

However, Rose believes that’s all part of the appeal with McIlroy, whose win came 11 years after his last Major title and 14 after he buckled in the final round at Augusta National despite holding a four-shot lead at the start.

“We saw part of history today,” he said. “Someone won the career Grand Slam. It's a momentous day in the game of golf. Quite rightly, fans are going to be excited about that.

“He's captivating to watch. He's a great player. He plays with so much sort of style and charisma and flare, I suppose and you never quite know, as well, because he's made a few mistakes under pressure. People, they want to kind of like keep watching, keep guessing.”

While there was understandable relief and elation for McIlroy after so many disappointments through the years, Rose, who also lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia in the 2017 Masters, is similarly familiar with the feeling of coming close in Majors, but not quite close enough.

However, Rose, whose one Major win came at the 2013 US Open, was philosophical about his latest near miss, saying: “Yeah, it hurts. I think - you know, yeah, what are you going to do about it, though? I think I've already kicked on in my career when I finished second to Sergio here. By then played some of the best golf of my career, got to World No.1. What do you choose to dwell on, you know what I mean?

“There's no point in being too despondent about it and you look at all the good stuff that got me into this situation. You can't skip through a career without a little bit of heartache. It's not going to happen. If you're willing to lift the big championships, you've to put yourself on the line. You have to risk feeling this way to get the reverse. It's all… it nets out.”