He's gone well at Augusta in years past - will Rose make your staking plan in 2013?
Romilly Evans assesses the recent no-shows of the Brits at Augusta and hopes Justin Rose can channel the spirit of winners past
Monotheistic belief systems may be ascendant among the world's religions these days, but there was a time when polytheisms dominated the landscape. The Ancient Greeks, for example, shunned the idea of one all-powerful benevolent god, opting instead for a series of lesser deities who weren't quite so enamoured of men and mice.
Sure, these gods had their favourite mortals whom they might save or reward if they were on a going day. But for the most part, they seemed to delight in testing mankind, tripping it up, or condemning it to eternal torment in Hades. Less consistent and loving, more temperamental and vindictive.
Sacked from their Mt Olympus residence and hounded from the temples and churches, it appears these fallen idols have since set up shop as golfing gods, trying to rebuild their shattered divine status.
Where better, one might ask? After all, golf is the sport of the cruel and the capricious, where you always lose more than you win. Just ask the British contenders headed for Augusta National this year, all of whom have been saying their prayers around Amen Corner for years. Only trouble is: no-one's got back to them since 1996.
Heaven, of course, wasn't always so heedless of the UK contingent. After a series of milestone victories from Blighty's greatest players in the late Eighties to early Nineties, it seemed that there would always be some green of Augusta's foreign field that would remain forever Britain.
First came Sandy Lyle's highland jig in 1988. Then Nick Faldo donned back-to-back green jackets. Before the pocket Welsh dragon, Ian Woosnam, reinforced his World No.1 ranking with a win in 1991. It was too easy.
Remember, though, that the gods of golf are cruel and capricious. And while Faldo benefitted from Greg Norman's defining collapse five years later, no British golfer has followed in his Footjoys subsequently. Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose... pick your favourite name, each has been barred from the Butler Cabin.
The modern UK army, despite prominent challenges and even more prominent world rankings, just can't seem to get it done like their forefathers. Granted, you might counter that their deficiency isn't restricted to The Masters. In fact, those Northern Irish lads aside, none of the aforementioned has ever won a major.
So will history continue to weigh heavily on the British challenge at Augusta this year? With American players carrying all before them on the PGA Tour this term, the odds certainly appear stacked against our raiding party from across the pond.
McIlroy is a few new clubs short of a full set. McDowell is sidetracked by his restaurant business. Donald is back basking in the shade of Tiger Woods. Poults is all mouth and loud trousers away from the Ryder Cup. While Westwood is now 0-for-59 in major championships.
Which really just leaves Justin Rose as our likeliest lad. Rose himself knows the pain of major championship underachievement better than most. Ever since announcing himself on the Open's grandest stage as a wide-eyed 17-year-old with fourth position in 1998, Rose has lived with a burden of expectation that has grown heavier with the mounting seasons.
That fourth place at Birkdale remains his highest finish in a major. But Rose has been a sure and steady improver over the years, now at a career-high number three in the world. Multiple tour wins, money lists, even a WGC mean that cracking one of golf's big four is the only frontier left.
Augusta could well prove the safest bridge to crossing that final frontier. Rose is deceptively long and blessed of a beautiful putting stroke which is the key component to demystifying the rapid reads of these unique greens. He has finished in the top 11 here three times in the past six years, while he has clocked up five runner-up finishes in top-tier events in the last year.
Naturally, the one salient negative is Rose's failure to win during that period. Coupled to his 0-36 record in the majors. Losing to Tiger Woods is fine. Being closed at by a Jamie Donaldson three-putt, as happened at Abu Dhabi in January, is less forgivable. So if Rose does get himself into position to dislodge that monkey on his back nine, he must view it as a great chance to break through and not another opportunity to break down.
That's a comment which also applies to his fellow island-dwellers in Masters week. Britain holds three of the globe's top four players - and six of the top 17. It's a current crop long overdue an Augusta harvest.
Perhaps they just need those fickle golfing gods to smile on them. Like any faith, that's a matter of belief trumping the available evidence.
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