Justin Rose Describes 'Tough' British Open After Finishing 2nd to ...

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It seemed for a moment during Sunday's final round that Justin Rose was going to win The Open Championship for the first time in his career.

But Xander Schauffele was simply dialed in on the way to his second major title of the year.

"The dream's been alive all week, and I did an awesome job," Rose said after finishing in a tie for second place with Billy Horschel and two strokes behind Schauffele, per Peter Scrivener of BBC.

"This will be a tough one but a great one. I played in some of the hardest weather all week. I played some of the best golf but it didn't quite add up to the trophy."

Rose briefly took the lead during the final round thanks to two birdies on the first four holes and three birdies on the first eight. He saved par on the challenging fifth and sixth holes and seemed to be building momentum as the round progressed.

That he fell just short is more of a testament to Schauffele's individual greatness than anything Rose did wrong. After all, the 43-year-old had a single bogey while competing in difficult, windy conditions on Sunday and shot a four-under 67.

It brought his tournament score to seven-under, but Schauffele caught fire and propelled to the top of the leaderboard with a six-under 65 and nine-under total for the tournament. He notched four birdies in six holes from Nos. 11 through 16 in a stunning closing stretch that gave him some much-needed breathing room from the rest of the field.

Schauffele also won the PGA Championship earlier this year and became the first golfer to win that and The Open in the same season since Rory McIlroy did so in 2014.

The final round brought plenty of drama, as there were stretches when it seemed like Schauffele, Rose, Horschel or Thriston Lawrence would win it. There were also huge names in Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm lurking, although neither ever fully made a charge to the top despite finishing in a tie for seventh.

It was going to come down to who made the most impressive spurt at the right time, and that is exactly what Schauffele did down the stretch.

While Rose, who won the 2013 U.S. Open, is surely disappointed after falling just short, it was also an impressive showing for him after he needed to secure his spot in the field through final qualifying just two weeks ago.

The Claret Jug still eludes him, but it was a memorable performance from one of the crowd favorites.