Masters 2026: Justin Rose has unfinished business at Augusta National (and with Rory)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — For many years now, few professional golfers have done—and do—as much right as Justin Rose. Few have come on the scene as spectacularly as the 18-year-old amateur who holed out from 50 yards on the 72nd hole of the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale to finish in a tie for fourth.

And while few have then debuted as a professional as miserably as Rose’s very public missing of 21 straight cuts, the debacle led to a painstaking recovery of confidence that evolved into one of the greatest career turnarounds the modern game has ever seen. Since 2010, Rose has won 13 PGA Tour victories, a major championship and an Olympic Gold medal, putting him on cusp of induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. And now, finally, few have aged as well as the still blooming Rose.

On Friday, the 45-year-old Englishman shot a four-under 68 to once again put himself on the leaderboard at the Masters with a score of five-under-par 138. Although he’s a distant seven behind the leader, Rory McIlroy, he’s just a a stroke behind Patrick Reed and Sam Burns in a share of fourth. Of course, it was McIlroy who bested Rose with a birdie on the first hole of sudden death at last year’s Masters, marking the second time Rose had lost at Augusta National in a playoff and the third time he had finished second.

Rose had led that tournament by one after 36 holes, but after a 38-putt 75 on Saturday, he’d trailed McIlroy by, yes, seven shots. Then on Sunday, Rose shot a 66, capped by a rammed-home 20-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to nearly pull off a miracle win. This year he has two rounds to make up that same margin.