AUGUSTA, Ga. — If there was such a thing as natural order when it comes to who deserves to — and should — win the Masters, Justin Rose is your man this week at Augusta National.
But, of course, there is no such thing.
Augusta National owes no one a damn thing.
Just ask Greg Norman, who had his heart mercilessly ripped from his chest not once but two or three times at Augusta and never won a green jacket.
Scars or belief?
This is a question that faces Justin Rose as he embarks on his 21st career Masters this week at Augusta National.
To be sure: Rose has done everything but win a green jacket in his first 20 tries, finishing second three times, including last year in a playoff to Rory McIlroy. In all, he has seven finishes inside the top 10.
The Masters has also represented significant heartbreak for Rose.
He lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff in 2017 after shooting a final-round 69. And his loss to McIlroy last year came after Rose posted a 6-under-par 66 on Sunday to force a playoff, playing beautiful golf.
Scars from defeat or belief, based on his close calls, that he can finally cross the line and have that coveted green jacket slipped over his shoulders in Butler Cabin on Sunday night?
These are things Rose, at age 45 and understanding his realistic chances are dwindling with each year, ponders. He chooses to live on the positive side of the tracks.
“I hope it only boosts my belief that I can go ahead and do it,’’ Rose said Monday. “I feel like I’ve pretty much done what it takes to win. I just haven’t kind of walked over the line. I feel like I’ve executed well enough to have done the job.
“I’m very aware that I’ve been close here,’’ Rose went on. “I’m very aware that I’ve had tough, tough losses here. I also am aware that I enjoy this place. So I don’t want to feel that those three second-place finishes need to create a different sort of feeling for me.’’
He was asked whether he falls in the “desire’’ or “obsession’’ camp in wanting a Masters.
“I’d say firmly in the desire camp, just because I know that the latter is not going to help me,’’ Rose said.
This is a player who missed his first 21 cuts to start his professional career. So, don’t ever question Rose’s mental toughness.
“I’ve realized that you can’t skip through a career without a little bit of heartache and heartbreak,’’ he said. “If you’re going to be willing to win them, you’ve got to be willing to kind of be on the wrong side of it as well. The key is showing up. The point is you’ve got to put yourself there.
“The better player you are, the more chances you’re going to have and the more you’re going to win. I don’t feel like [the Masters] owes me anything. I come here with a good sort of attitude. I come here with it [being] a place that I enjoy being.
“There’s certain places you get to and you take a deep breath and go, ‘Right, it’s nice to be here.’ Augusta still is one of those places for me.’’
Rose, who played a practice round with Jersey Shore native Chris Gotterup on Monday, said he’s “always trying to learn’’ around the place.
“Listen, you can know everything in the world, but when it comes to execution, if you’re not playing well, it doesn’t matter how well you know anything,’’ he said. “It’s an execution-based business, and the golf course doesn’t know what I know.
“From my point of view, I don’t think, ‘Oh, I know how to play this golf course. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be easy.’ I turn up every day I play this golf course knowing it’s a new body of work.’’
Rose, who won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines earlier this year, breaking the tournament record and becoming the first wire-to-wire winner of that event since 1955, is an absolute sentimental favorite here this week.
Three runner-up finishes and handling those with pure class, which has always been Rose’s calling card, will do that.
“I’ve already experienced it this week,’’ Rose said. “A lot of people are wishing me well or thinking it’s going to be my year, whatever, just based around sentiment. So, I’m going to have to manage that a bit this week, and that’s going to be part of my week this week for sure is people remembering what happened last year.
“That’s fine, but I’ve got to kind of be aware of that, be ready for that, and I’ve got to have my own narrative and not kind of buy into everyone else’s narrative.’’
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