Justin Rose ‘choking back tears’ after Xander Schauffele surges to British Open title

TROON, Scotland (AP) — It felt like a must-have putt for Justin Rose as he tried to keep pace with Xander Schauffele on No. 12 at Royal Troon on Sunday.

Rose kneeled for a closer peek and stepped to the ball. The 21-footer looked good and the crowd was ready to erupt. It caught the left side of the cup, though, and lipped out.

Rose tossed his putter in the air, catching it on the way down. His British Open dream was dented, and Schauffele surged to the title.

Rose’s lone bogey of the day dropped him a shot behind Schauffele and two strokes back of then-leader Thriston Lawrence.

The 43-year-old Englishman — carrying the hopes of the country in search of a champion — never caught up.

“Just a critical moment midway through the back nine just momentum-wise,” he said. “Obviously, Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn’t fall, and then suddenly that lead stretched.”

Schauffele birdied the next two holes to pull away. They both picked up a shot on the 16th, but it was settled by the time Rose birdied the last to card a 4-under 67.

Rose finished tied for second with Billy Horschel on 7-under overall, two shots behind Schauffele.

Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion, briefly led by one shot Sunday after his birdie at the par-5 fourth. He had plenty of support from the home fans. There was even a dude braving the Firth of Clyde supporting Rose.

“In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions today, my mindset, I left it all out there. I’m super proud of how I competed,” he said.

Closing out his weekend with a birdie was about “being a professional,” he said.

“Then I walk 10 steps later, and I’m choking back tears. So that’s the shift. Yeah, just personal, and enjoying 18 with the fans too. I just think it’s such an amazing stage,” he said. “For me, like that’s the best look in golf, those two long grandstands that you walk down and the big yellow leaderboard. That’s what I associate as a magic moment.”

Rose wasn’t considered a favorite coming into the week. In fact, he had dropped out of the top 50 in the world ranking and went through a qualification tournament to earn his spot at the Open, where he also had a share of second place at Carnoustie in 2018 when Francesco Molinari won.

“I’ll have a few more chances, of course, but you know that this is a great opportunity today. You want to walk off the golf course going, ‘yeah, I didn’t squander that,’” he said.

“I ran putts at the hole today. I feel like I had opportunities. I felt like I took a lot of them,” he added. “But I felt super comfortable out there, which the fact that I haven’t really been in contention much this year, that gives me a lot of heart.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf