Justin Rose admits he got his Masters preparation wrong

Justin Rose plans to learn from his mistakes after admitting he made some bad decisions in the lead up to the Masters earlier this year.

Rose was flying high after winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January. He was the No 1 golfer in the world, and had just posted his eighth top-10 in his last 10 worldwide starts.

He decided to take a month off to rejuvenate ahead of this season’s breakneck major schedule, but the lengthy lay-off unfortunately did him no good at all.

When he returned to the PGA Tour in March, Rose found his game to be more than a little rusty, and there wasn’t enough time to whip it back into shape ahead of Augusta.

Rose played most of the Florida swing, and posted respectable top-10 finishes in two of the events – The Players Championship and the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play – but he wasn’t where he wanted to be for the Masters and tried to do too much too quickly to try and get himself there.

The result? Rounds of 75 and 73 and a missed cut at the year’s first major.

“I got my preparation a little bit wrong,” said Rose. “I took a month off in February and that was designed to really freshen me up going into Augusta and for the rest of the season. I came out of that month not playing as well as I would have hoped, and the Florida swing became a bit of a struggle and a bit of a grind.

“I was always just sort of fighting my game a little bit, and then it’s like you’re sort of cramming for an exam,” he added. “I started to practice harder than I would have liked in the days leading up to Augusta.”

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It was all that cramming that probably did him in, and Rose came to regret his decision to practice for three days at the Sage Valley facility near the Masters venue before playing nine holes at Augusta on Sunday and 18 on Tuesday.

“It all felt like it was a really long run‑up. I think by Tuesday I felt pretty good with my game and then by Thursday I tanked a little bit,” Rose said. “I think the flow of the run‑up this year, the preparation didn’t really click. And because of that, you know, ultimately, I kind of burned out a little bit too quick.”

This time around, Rose is planning to change things up. He will play the Wells Fargo Championship this week before heading out to Bethpage Black – host venue for the PGA Championship – next week.

But then he plans to cut his preparations short and head home to the Bahamas before returning to Long Island, New York, for the year’s second major championship.

“You’re always adapting and always learning and trying not to make the same mistakes,” Rose added. “I’ll get my prep work in and go back home and digest, I think, what I’ve learned or what I think the strategy’s going to be and come back and be fresh mentally. I feel like if I’m in the environment for too long, if I’m in the environment of being around the major for 10 days, it’s a long time to keep it together or to stay sharp.”

Justin Rose

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