AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose kept hitting balls to stay loose at the tournament practice facility, all alone save for longtime caddie Mark Fulcher, everything eerily quiet around him while drama was unfolding elsewhere on Sunday at the Masters.

Rose had generated roars of his own down the stretch at Augusta National, the biggest of all coming at the 18th, when he rolled in a 20-footer for birdie and then looked to the heavens. It finished off a round of 66, and pulled him into a tie with Rory McIlroy at 11 under, and ultimately sent Rose off to prepare for the possibility of a playoff.

He got it when McIlroy missed a putt on the 18th hole some 40 minutes later.

The two headed back to the 18 for a sudden-death showdown. Rose striped a drive down the right side, McIlroy matched him down the middle. Rose knocked his approach to 15 feet, McIlroy stuck to 3 feet. But when Rose slid his birdie putt past, and McIlroy drained his own, he finally had the one leg of the grand slam that had so long eluded him.

And once again, Rose had been denied in a playoff at Augusta National. The former U.S. Open and Olympic champion was part of the last one in the Masters, eight years ago, when he lost to Sergio Garcia on the first sudden-death hole.

“This is a historic moment in golf, isn’t it? Someone who achieves the career grand slam,” Rose said afterward, magnanimous in defeat. “I wanted to be the bad guy today, but still, it’s a momentous occasion for the game of golf.”

Meanwhile, it also was Rose’s second straight second-place finish in a major. He was tied for second after the second round of the British Open last year, and he wound up finishing right there, two shots behind Xander Schauffele at Royal Troon.

“I hit a lot of quality shots under pressure, and I felt like I was getting stronger and stronger as the round was going on,” Rose said. “I felt so good with my game, good with my emotions, and I’m super proud of that. Because you can’t prepare for that. You can’t practice for that. That’s when you learn about yourself, and I’m still learning about myself.”

The fact that the 44-year-old Rose was even in contention Sunday was a testament to his stubborn refusal to quit.

He held the first-round lead after a superlative 65 on Thursday, and again after his second-round 71. But when Rose shot 75 on Saturday, and McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau made big charges, he came into Sunday as an afterthought.

“I think I flipped the switch from yesterday,” Rose said. “Yesterday, I was so angry coming off the course because I turned 69 into 75. I didn’t let that momentum seep into today. And I think that that was, from a professionalism point of view — very, very proud of that switch overnight and into this morning.”

Still, Rose began the day seven shots behind McIlroy with a bunch of golf’s best standing between them.

Things weren’t much better through six, either, which he played in even-par. But back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 gave Rose a confidence boost, and three straight birdies while McIlroy was faltering on the back nine thrust him back into the mix.

“I wasn’t looking at leaderboards,” Rose said. “The only way I sensed I was getting into it was the crowd.”

Even when Rose bogeyed the 14th from behind a tree, he bounced back with two more birdies. And when a bogey at the 17th left him needing one more, Rose delivered it at the 18th to reach 11 under — same as McIlroy playing four groups behind.

“It’s the kind of putt you dream about as kid,” Rose said, “and to have it and hole it, it was a special feeling.”

As the sunlight faded over the Georgia pines, Rose and McIlroy — close friends and Ryder Cup teammates — returned to the 18th tee. They shook hands, then both of them played one of the most difficult holes on the course splendidly.

Only one of them was able to make the putt that mattered.

“Unfortunately, the playoff, they always end so quickly,” Rose said. “If you’re not the guy to hit the great shot or hole the great putt, it’s over. But that’s the nature of sudden death. I’m not sure I could have done much more today.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Guentzel scored twice to reach the 40-goal mark, NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 on Sunday.

Conor Geekie, Ryan McDonagh and Emil Lilleberg also scored for Tampa Bay, and Jonas Johansson made with 21 saves. Gage Goncalves, Nick Paul, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel each had two assists.

Jiri Kulich, Conor Clifton, Sam Lafferty and Alex Tuch scored for Buffalo. James Reimer stopped 24 shots.

Guentzel put Tampa Bay in front with 3:25 left in the first period. Buffalo took the lead with two goals in the final 30 seconds of the period as Kulich and Clifton scored 15 seconds apart.

But the Lightning scored four times in the second period to pull away. McDonagh tied it at 3:02. Kucherov scored his first of the night at 6:34. Geekie made it 4-2 with 5:39 left, and Lilleberg’s added his first career goal wth 3:15 to go for a 5-2 lead.

The teams traded goals in the third period.

Takeaways

Sabres: Buffalo is winless in three games (0-2-1) since a five-game winning streak. … Coach Lindy Ruff remains stuck on 899 career wins and needs one more to join Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Paul Maurice and Barry Trotz as the only coaches with 900.

Lightning: Tampa Bay RW Oliver Bjorkstrand is out week-to-week with an undisclosed lower-body injury suffered on Friday against Detroit. … Kucherov leads the league with 119 points.

Key moment

Kucherov collected a pass off the wall from Victor Hedman and touched the puck around Alex Tuch at the red line to open up space. Kucherov gained the zone with speed and put a shot off the crossbar that hit Reimer and landed in the crease where he poked it in for the go-ahead goal in the second period.

Key stat

Lilleberg scored his first career NHL goal, becoming the sixth Norwegian-born player to score in the NHL.

Up next

Both teams play Tuesday night. Buffalo hosts Toronto, and Tampa Bay hosts Florida.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

 Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest moment of all, hitting a wedge into 3 feet for birdie in a sudden-death playoff Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career Grand Slam.

What could have been a coronation for McIlroy along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing, jaw-dropping finish at golf’s greatest theater that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.

It ended with more heartache for Justin Rose, who lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff in 2017 and forced this one with a clutch 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 6-under 66. He wound up joining Ben Hogan as the only players to lose twice in playoffs at Augusta National.

“My dreams have been made today,” McIlroy said, the Masters green jacket looking like a perfect fit as he spoke at the trophy presentation. 

Moments later, speaking to 4-year-old daughter Poppy, he told her: “Never give up on your dreams. Never, ever give up on your dreams.”

This was shaping up as another horror show for McIlroy, who in 2011 lost a four-shot lead on the final day with a 43 on the back nine, a highlight reel that now can start collecting dust.

“I didn’t make it easy today,” McIlroy said.

He lost a two-shot lead in two holes at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Rae’s Creek on the par-5 13th.

And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, McIlroy delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do, two birdies that sent him to the 18th hole with a one-shot lead. 

That still wasn’t enough. He hit a wedge into the bunker and wound up missing a 5-foot par putt for a 1-over 73 and the first Masters playoff in eight years.

Faced with more failure, McIlroy responded with another booming drive, and this wedge bounced onto the slope of the top shelf with enough spin to trickle down toward the hole, closer and closer, until it stopped 3 feet away.

And when Rose missed from 15 feet, McIlroy finally sealed it. 

McIlroy went 11 long years without any major, knowing the Masters green jacket was all that kept him from joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only winners of golf’s four professional majors.

“This is my 17th time here, and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” he said in Butler Cabin. “I think the last 10 years coming here with the burden of the Grand Slam on my shoulders and trying to achieve that … there was a lot of pent-up emotion that just came out on that 18th green.”

He raised both arms and let the putter fall behind him, and before long he was on his knees, then his forehead on the 18th green as his chest heaved with emotion.

“Rose was left with a runner-up finish for the second straight time in a major, with not many regrets, especially making the 20-foot putt on the 18th.

“It’s the kind of putt you dream about as a kid, and to have it and hole it, it was a special feeling,” Rose said. “And unfortunately, the playoff, they always end so quickly. If you’re not the guy to hit the great shot or hole the great putt, it’s over.

“But not really anything I could have done more today.”

So ended one of the wildest Sundays at a major that is known for them. McIlroy set a Masters record as the first champion to make four double bogeys — two in the first round that put him seven shots behind, two in the final round that turned this into a thriller.

U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who beat McIlroy at Pinehurst No. 2 last June, had the lead after two holes when McIlroy opened with a double bogey. He crashed out with a pair of three-putts and two shots into the water on the back nine, closing with a 75.

Ludvig Aberg, a runner-up in his Masters debut a year ago, suddenly had a share of the lead when McIlroy fell apart on the middle of the back nine. He missed a birdie putt from the fringe to take the lead, then finished bogey-triple bogey.

Rose had every reason to believe he threw away his chances on Saturday with a 75 that put him seven shots behind, and then two bogeys on the front nine. Even as he steadied himself, he was four shots back and running out of time. 

He did his part in a 10-birdie round and that dynamic birdie putt to cap it off.

McIlroy helped in a big way.

Nothing was more shocking than the 13th. McIlroy played it safe, leaving himself a big target and a lob wedge. He missed his mark by some 20 yards, the ball disappearing into the tributary of Rae’s Creek and leading to double bogey.

Rose was on the par-3 16th and hit his tee shot to 4 feet for birdie, and suddenly they were tied. Then, McIlroy hit a weak drive to the right and was blocked by pines. He didn’t reach the green, didn’t make the par putt and no longer had the lead.

But he was resilient as ever — he’s been like that his entire career. Seemingly in trouble left of the 15th fairway, McIlroy hit 7-iron around the trees and onto the green to 6 feet.

He missed the eagle putt — the birdie still helped him regain a share of the lead. Two holes later, facing a semi-blind shot, he drilled 8-iron and chased after it, urging it to “Go! Go! Go! Go!” And it did, barely clearing the bunker and rolling out to 2 feet for birdie and a one-shot lead.

Turns out that wasn’t enough, either. He was 5 feet away from victory and badly missed the putt, leaving him more work to do — another chance to fail.

Not this time. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland never wavered in what he came to Augusta National to do. He leaves with a green jacket.

McIlroy and Rose finished at 11-under 277, two shots ahead of former Masters champion Patrick Reed (69). Scottie Scheffler, trying to win the Masters for the third time in four years, never got anything going this week and still shot 69 to finish fourth.

McIlroy, with his third win this year, now has 40 titles worldwide. This was his 11th try at getting the career Grand Slam — the longest any of the previous players went was three attempts to get the fourth leg.

Next up is the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where McIlroy has already won four times. Wouldn’t that be grand?