Justin Rose plans to draw on recent experiences of contending in majors as he chases a victory at The Masters that would feel “a gift” at this stage of his career.
Rose, 44, marked his 20th Masters appearance by following an opening-round 65 with a one-under 71 in his second round at Augusta National, mixing four birdies with three bogeys to set the clubhouse target at eight under.
The former world No 1 has previously finished runner-up twice at The Masters, claiming second to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and losing out to Sergio Garcia in a play-off in 2017.
Rose is the only player to have led or shared the lead after each round of The Masters without winning, with the Englishman firmly in contention to claim a second major title and first in 12 years after his 2013 US Open success.
“I think I’ll take it any time,” Rose said of potentially winning a Green Jacket. “Beggars can’t be choosers, you know. But I would take it right now for sure. Sometimes if it happens too early in your career, you’ve got a lot to live up to.
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Rose shot a seven-under-par 65 at Augusta National to lead The Masters by three shots on Thursday
“I think if it happens now, I would enjoy it, I think, probably a lot more, coming a bit more as a gift towards the end of your career. So I think there would be a lot more satisfaction in it for sure.
“I feel like there’s been other sort of great accomplishments in that time. I think winning the Olympic gold medal [in 2016] gave me a lot of satisfaction in that interim period, getting to world number one, winning the FedExCup.
Rose would join Sir Nick Faldo and Danny Willett as the only English players to win The Masters if he prevails
“I think really big milestone moments in my career have happened in that 12 years, which distracts you from the fact that you haven’t won a major in that period. Yeah, 12 years slips by pretty quick. But I haven’t been dwelling on that fact at all.”
Rose contended at the PGA Championship last season before finishing runner-up to Xander Schauffele at The Open later that summer, having gone through Final Qualifying to secure his spot, with the 44-year-old using both results to lift his confidence ahead of this weekend.
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Watch highlights from the final round of The Open from Royal Troon, where Rose narrowly missed out on major glory
“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock on the door,” Rose added. “I don’t think I can do anything differently to both those occasions.
“Especially Valhalla, I actually made a run into contention there, which is great. Got more and more comfortable as I got further and further up the leaderboard, which was really good for me to know because there had not been a ton of opportunity for the previous couple of years.
“The Open Championship, very much the same thing, given like how much you dream about winning them, felt remarkably comfortable in those situations. That’s what I’ve learned from those two things.
“To make it happen this weekend, what is it? Like if it was a secret recipe [to win], you’d know it by now, but it’s about just playing great golf. I think the leaderboard is stacking up very favourably for what looks like world-class players right up there.”
When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports Golf will be showing record hours of live coverage from the 2025 contest, including more action over the final two rounds than previous years.
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Rory McIlroy shot a stunning second-round 66 to charge up the leaderboard at The Masters and fire himself back into contention
A new addition to this year’s coverage sees a Masters build-up show live from 3pm over the weekend ahead of full coverage starting at 5pm, covering all the action until after the close of play.
Sky Sports+ on Sky Q and Sky Glass will provide plenty of bonus feeds and allow you to follow players’ progress through various parts of Augusta’s famous layout, including Amen Corner and more.
Who will win The Masters? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the second round begins with Featured Groups on Friday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
