By Andrew Both
(Reuters) - Justin Rose never got closer than three strokes to catching Jordan Spieth in the final round at the Masters on Sunday, ending his hopes of breaking a 19-year drought for a British winner at Augusta National.
But as hard as Rose, playing in the final pairing with Spieth, tried to make the leader crack, he found himself up against an opponent seemingly impervious to pressure.
Rose, however, did not concede defeat in his own mind until the 16th hole.
Though trailing by four shots with three holes left, the 2013 U.S. Open champion sensed life when he hit his tee shot at the par-three hole into 15 feet and Spieth missed the green.
But when Rose missed his birdie putt and Spieth made an eight-footer to save par, the Englishman acknowledged he was playing for second.
"I felt a potential two-shot swing, and I'm two back with two to play (and) it's game on, but my putt just slid by and he made a great eight‑footer there to keep his momentum, as he did all day, really," Rose told reporters after shooting 70 to finish equal second at 14-under 274.
"He poured it in the middle. I think it was one of the best putts he hit all day."
Rose, who finished the day as he started it, four strokes behind Spieth, could hardly have made a better start.
He coaxed a 10-foot left-to-right birdie home at the first hole to apply some early heat, but Spieth answered the challenge by also making birdie from slightly shorter range.
Rose politely nodded a silent 'well done' to Spieth as they left the green. He kept the pressure on with a two-putt birdie at the second, where Spieth could only par.
But a disappointing par at the par-five eighth and a bogey at the par-four ninth stopped his momentum and he never really looked like challenging on the back nine.
"Jordan didn't open the door. I didn't expect him too," Rose continued. "He was clutch with the putter again today.
"Playing in the final group in a major championship, especially the Masters, is something that you are either ready for or you're not.
"I was really happy with the way I felt today on the golf course and how composed I was and how in control of my emotions I was."
