JUSTIN Rose was left to reflect on a good performance after finishing second at the Masters, but he was unable to prevent himself looking back on a couple of key moments midway through his final round.

Rounds of 67 (-5), 70 (-2) and 67 (-5) had the north Hampshire golfer in second place on -12 going into the final day, four shots behind leader Jordan Spieth.

Rose partnered the young American in the final pairing – and he got off to a great start, making birdies at the first two holes.

However, Spieth refused to be flustered. Three times on the front nine, Rose got the gap down to three shots, but on each occasion Spieth found an immediate response – and when the former Robert May’s School pupil three-putted at the ninth, he found himself five shots off the pace.

Spieth was able to play the back nine without taking too many risks and while a bogey at the last robbed him of the lowest ever score at Augusta, his -18 tied the record set by Tiger Woods in 1997.

Rose played the back nine pretty well, but a bogey at the last meant a round of 70 (-2) and a tie for second place with Phil Mickelson on -14.

Rose said: “Overall, I was happy the way I stuck with it. To come here with not a lot of form so far this season, to finish tied second is obviously a good result and I feel like my season is now under way.

“The key moments for me were not getting up and down from right of the eighth and three-putting the ninth, but you just need to take your hat off, marvel at it and congratulate Jordan Spieth, because he was very impressive.

“Awesome composure. Every time I thought there was a chink in the armour he would come out and hole an eight foot putt.

“It was a thrill to be out there and play in that arena though. The final group on Sunday at the Masters is dream stuff. It was an incredible day out there.

Rose has led after the first round at Augusta three times and also finished fifth in 2007, and asked what he needed to do to win, he added: “Just shoot 14 under again. Normally that gets it done. The only thing I had not done was put four good rounds together and I did that, so let’s continue that trend.”

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