Rose: Putting woes
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Justin Rose blamed his putter after his slide down the leaderboard continued in the final round of the US Masters.
The Englishman was tied for the first round lead with Trevor Immelman at the end of Thursday's play but while the South African marched on Rose went into freefall.
A treble bogey eight at the 15th on Friday started the slide and after following his opening 68 with a 78, Rose's problems continued over the weekend as he shot 73, 76 to finish seven over for the tournament.
"Last year I putted great," said Rose, who finished tied fifth in 2007, "but this year I struggled to read the greens.
"I started second-guessing the stroke and second-guessing the read. I lost a bit of confidence and it became tough."
Rose made the top 12 in all four Majors last year but his closing four-over 76 here left him outside the top 30.
Reflecting on an opportunity missed, Rose said: "I'm just disappointed with the week overall. It was a weird week and I suppose it turned out to be the short game which let me down.
"The first couple of days I felt my long game was in good shape, but I didn't score well and as the week went on my short game didn't help me.
"I found it very difficult to grind this week once I slipped out of the tournament."
