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Masters 2019: Six Golfers' Near Misses At Augusta National

As we build up to next week's 83rd Masters tournament at Augusta National, we have been thinking about all the nearly men over the years who have been so close to getting their hands on the famous Green Jacket.

For every story of glorious champions, there are just as many (if not more) of heart-breaking near misses.  Here's a collection of six that stand out for us here at Hole19 HQ...

Justin Rose

Back in 2017, the golfing world watched as Spaniard Sergio Garcia captured a long-awaited maiden major Championship at Augusta and it came at the expense of the Englishman, Justin Rose.

After 12 holes of the final round, Rose held a two-shot lead and would have been further buoyed as he watched his rival's tee shot on 13 sweep into the trees.  Despite having to take a drop, Garcia made par.  From there the pendulum swung in his favour and finally culminated in a playoff win that had seemed so unlikely just six holes previous.

Justin was as gracious as ever in defeat...

Greg Norman

When we're considering near misses at Augusta, no list can be complete without the inclusion of the 'Great White Shark'.

Greg Norman has finished runner-up on three separate occasions, most notably in 1986 when he was on the wrong end of some further playoff drama.  In regulation play, the Aussie missed a 20-foot putt for victory before Larry Mize holed a stunning 120-foot chip to take the Green Jacket on the second playoff hole.

Rory McIlroy

Rory was in with a solid chance heading into the final round at last year's Masters before carding a disappointing 74 to finish T-5.

A more surprising collapse came back in 2011 when the Northern Irishman teed off on Masters Sunday with a four-shot lead.  From there McIlroy endured a horrendous back nine.  After triple-bogeying the 10th he would go on to three-putt the following hole from 10 feet and then take four putts at the par-three 12th.

Catch a reminder of Rory's final round collapse below...

Ernie Els

Despite being one of the most popular golfers in the men's game, as well as one of the most successful, it will come as a real source of disappointment to Ernie Els that he never managed to get over the line at Augusta National.

His closest flirtation with the Green Jacket came in 2004 when he reached the turn on Sunday with a two-shot lead.  Phil Mickelson was the man to ruin the South African's Masters dream as he finished in impressive fashion, holing for birdie and a single stroke victory on the 18th hole.

Rickie Fowler

Having finished T-5 back at the 2014 Masters, Rickie Fowler will have entered last year's tournament with an element of confidence but, after a rather flat first two rounds, a first major win quickly looked unlikely.

An impressive 65 on Saturday was then followed by a fine closing 67 and his -14 cumulative score would come up one shot shy of Patrick Reed's winning total.  That was Fowler's 8th top-5 finish in his major championship career to date.

Ready for Rickie's final round near miss in under three minutes?  Check it out below...

Jason Day

Australian Jason Day managed to break his major duck back in 2015 by taking the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits but suffered a couple of near misses at the Masters in the years previous.

Particularly back in 2013, he entered the final three holes with a one-shot lead before bogeying the next two and ultimately finishing a single shot behind both his compatriot Adam Scott and the Argentinian Angel Cabrera.

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