Pain's the game for Rose as he misses his chance

Justin Rose has revealed that he will

be restricted by a back problem for

the rest of his career as he strives to

become the major champion the

country is waiting to acclaim.

But

the 27-year-old Englishman

admitted that his mind was at fault

rather than his body as he suffered a

sadly familiar experience at

Augusta National, which effectively

wrecked his chances of winning

the 72nd US Masters.

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The crowds were out in force in Augusta to see Justin Rose blow his chances of winning the Masters

After taking the first-round

lead for the third time in four

appearances at Augusta with

an impressive 68, Rose

slumped to a 78 — including

a triple-bogey eight at the

par-five 15th.

It left him in

29th place, 10 shots behind

the halfway leader, South

Africa's Trevor Immelman.

Four years ago, Rose led after

36 holes only to rack up an 81 which sent

him plummeting out of contention.

Although he kept last year's challenge

going until the 71st hole, his old

frailty came back to haunt him on a

long, bad Friday afternoon this time.

Having covered the first 14 holes of

his second round in two over par, the

European No1 played the 15th like an

amateur hacker. After laying up with

his second shot, Rose duffed his third

into the lake, thinned his next over

the back of the green, chipped back

and took two putts for an eight.

Afterwards he attributed the collapse

to mental fatigue. "It was a 20-

second lapse of concentration," said

Rose. "In hindsight I should have gone

for the green with my second shot. It

was one of those things. I struggled

with my concentration because it was

such a long round. In the back of my

mind I think I'm out of the championship

and it's not going to be the

exciting weekend I was looking forward

to."

Augusta thriller: The crowds were out in force

Playing partner Henrik Stenson,

who birdied three of the last five

holes to make the cut alongside Rose,

could offer only stunned sympathy.

"It's awful to do that yourself," said

the Swedish Ryder Cup star. "But it's

almost as hard to see it happen to

someone else. All that hard work

went up in smoke on one hole."

Rose, who has risen to No 6 in the

world, had been looking forward to

building on an impressive 2007 in

which he finished fifth at the Masters

and went on to top the European

Order of Merit while overcoming

back problems that limited his schedule.

Hard work in the gym and careful

planning had enabled him to limit the problem, although Rose knows it

will never go away.

"I don't worry about my back," said

Rose. "I think I'm realistic about it. I

know there's a weakness there.

There's scar tissue in the area and if

I don't take care of it, it flares up.

"That's the way my career is and

that's the case with a lot of other

guys, who play through pain out here.

In my case it's more of a nagging

pain. I wouldn't say I play through it

because when it's really painful I'm

locked up and I can't move.

"I know the warning signs and when

to back off and ice it down a little bit.

That's why my schedule has been

lighter for the past three or four

years and why I don't practise as

much. I practise smarter."

While Rose, whose record of first-round

leads at Augusta is bettered

only by Jack Nicklaus, fell back into

the pack his friend Ian Poulter led

the European challenge over the first

two days, compiling an impressive

second-round 69 to moved into third

place, three shots behind Immelman

when yesterday's third round began.

Like Rose, the flashy dresser from

Milton Keynes made the cut in all

four major championships in 2007,

including a 13th place at the Masters.

Fifteen months ago when he

appointed caddie Terry Mundy,

Poulter said that the major he is most

likely to win is the Masters because

the course suits his game.

Ridiculed for saying that he does

not rate his fellow professionals,

apart from Tiger Woods, the 32-year-old

former market stall holder was in

position to back up his boast after

outplaying many of the world's best players over the first two rounds

here.

"It's the best position I've ever

been in after two rounds of a major,"

said Poulter before the third round.

"It would be lovely to put that green

jacket on."

Tournament favourite Woods, on a

mission to win the Grand Slam after

an all-conquering start to the year,

left himself plenty to do over the

weekend, which he began seven shots

behind Immelman in 13th place.

Even though he has won the Masters

four times, Woods has been on a run

of mediocre form in the tournament.

He had failed to break 70 in 11 successive

attempts going into the third

round. Nonetheless he remained typically

bullish about his chances.

"You can make up seven shots," he

said. "On this course you can do it

quite quickly. I just have to stay

patient and just hang in there."

Four Englishmen — Poulter, Paul

Casey, Lee Westwood and Nick

Dougherty on debut — were in the

top 13 at the halfway stage, while

fiftysomethings Ian Woosnam and

Sandy Lyle, both former champions,

admirably made the halfway cut.

But there were some notable casualties.

World No 3 Ernie Els, Ryder

Cup stars Sergio Garcia and Luke

Donald plus former champion Jose

Maria Olazabal — on his comeback

from illness — were all forced to take

the weekend off.

Gary Player, in his record-breaking

51st appearance in the event he won

in 1961, 1974 and 1978, finished last of

the 93 starters. The 72-year-old South

African, who holds the record of

making the most successive cuts

around the demanding Georgia masterpiece,

shot 83 and 78 and stooped

to kiss the turf on the 18th as he left to

tumultuous applause.

Fred Couples could have eclipsed

Player's record of 23 successive cuts

but shot a second-round 72 to miss

out by one shot.