Justin Rose 'gutted' after coming up short to Xander Schauffele at The Open

Justin Rose admits he is 'gutted' not to have etched his name on the famous Claret Jug at The 152nd Open Championship but that he is 'super proud' of how he competed at Royal Troon.

Rose, 43, first burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced amateur when holing out for birdie with a wedge on the 72nd hole to finish T4 in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale.

Twenty six years on and Rose emulated his best result yet in The Open with a T2, something he also did when finishing two shots behind Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie in 2018. 

Related: Justin Rose's caddie sums up how everyone feels about Open champ Xander Schauffele

Rose held a share of the lead when drilling home a birdie on the iconic Postage Stamp par-3 8th, and he dared to dream of a second career major title.

LIVE: The Open Championship Final Round Updates from Royal Troon

The 2013 US Open champion played some of the best golf of his professional career on the famed South Ayrshire links this week.

But he just could not keep pace with his final-round playing partner and fellow Olympic gold medallist Xander Schauffele, who saw out a second career major title in the last two months. 

Rose drained a clutch birdie putt on 18 to finish the week on 7-under par in T2 alongside Billy Horschel.

The pair of FedEx Cup champions finished two shots back of Schauffele, who now moves to second in the world. 

For the first time since 1982, all four majors have been won by American players in Schauffele (US PGA, The Open), Scottie Scheffler (The Masters) and LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau (US Open).

Scroll below for Rose's overiding emotions...

Moments after signing his card and pocketing $1.4m for his T2 at The Open, the Englishman admitted to having a mixed set of emotions.

Rose told GolfMagic and other media at Troon: 

"Yeah, pretty -- two emotions. Gutted when I walked off the course and it hit me hard because I was so strong out there today. I kind of got off to the start I wanted. I really played the way I wanted to today. I got off on the front foot. I played my way right into the tournament early doors. Felt comfortable with it all day. Did a lot of the hard things really well on the golf course today.

"Yeah, just a critical moment midway through the back nine just momentum-wise. Obviously Xander got it going. I hit a couple of really good putts that didn't fall, and then suddenly that lead stretched.

"In terms of how I played and the execution of my emotions today, my mindset, I left it all out there. I'm super proud of how I competed."

Related: 

How much they all earned at The Open

Scottie Scheffler's duffed tee shot at 18

How the final round played out at Troon

LIV Golf player leaderboard at The Open