Justin Rose in Hunt at Memorial, Finding it 'Hard' to Put Masters Loss Behind Him

The 2025 Masters was one for the ages.

Justin Rose, however, still feels a slight hangover from that week.

“Not consciously. Quite possibly,” he said after Round 2 of the Memorial Tournament. “I think definitely there is stuff to process there for sure, and I think obviously, a lot of people want to keep talking to you about (the Masters), so it’s hard to put it a hundred percent behind you all the time.”

The 44-year-old Englishman, of course, lost to Rory McIlroy in a playoff. Rose is now the only player to have fallen twice in a playoff at Augusta National Golf Club, as he was defeated by Sergio Garcia in 2017.

Now, nearly two months later, Rose is struggling to find the form that had him in contention for a green jacket.

Seven days after the Masters, he placed T42 at the RBC Heritage. A few weeks later, he played the Truist Championship, but, not feeling well, withdrew after shooting 7 over through 36 holes (the tournament didn’t have a cut).

“I was conscious that the PGA was coming up the following week,” Rose said. “Yeah, like, flu, basically, just achy and not feeling great. But I think that knocked me a little bit.”

Still recovering, Rose then missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

Fast forward to this week, it looked like the world No. 17 was going to head home early again with a first-round 78 at Muirfield Village. However, a 66 in Round 2 has him T12, seven shots off the lead at even par heading into the weekend.

“(Round 1) was a real kick in the goolies, as we say in England,” Rose said Friday. “The back nine yesterday, the finish I had yesterday, was kind of tough, tough, but great to rebound today and see some red numbers.”

The lead is not insurmountable. Entering the final round at the Masters, Rose was seven back, but caught McIlroy with a final-round 66, capped by a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

When he reflects on his shortcomings in Augusta, Rose is proud of how he battled.

“I think selfishly, (people) enjoyed it,” Rose said, “because someone kind of was there to step up and have a good round and make it interesting. So I think from a watching point of view—which I haven’t had a chance to watch it back, apparently it was a good watch—I think people were just grateful that it was exciting in the end. I think that’s what people kind of enjoyed … From that point of view, I can walk away from it a lot easier than if I had done something in the moment where I knew I had let myself down.”

Now, Rose looks to emulate his heroics at Augusta National in Dublin, Ohio, but, contrary to the Masters, leave with the victory.