Justin Rose admits he was left mystified by the praise he received in the wake of being pipped by at the Rose threatened to wreck his colleague's hopes of winning his fifth major and completing Grand Slam.

The Englishman's final-round 66 gave him the clubhouse lead and after McIlroy missed a putt for par at the last, the pair went back down the 18th for a sudden-death play-off. However, a phenomenal approach by McIlroy left him with a short putt for birdie, which he drained to finally get his hands on the Green Jacket. While the focus was on the Northern Irishman for clinching his place in golfing history, by sportingly congratulating his rival and was widely praised for the way he conducted himself in defeat.

However, the 44-year-old was surprised by the reaction and revealed he received more goodwill messages than after his US Open triumph in 2013 or his Olympic Games gold medal in Rio in 2016. Speaking to ahead of the PGA Championship, he said: "I have had as many, if not more, messages than after Merion or Rio, and the overwhelming sentiment was congratulations rather than commiserations.

"It is heartwarming, yeah, but to be honest, I have been a bit baffled because I really didn't feel I did anything special. I just gave a mate a hug on the 18th green and told him it was great to see how special it was for him and, you know, just tried to sort of table my own disappointment. That's all. Maybe there were some other bigger pictures at play."

Rose's wait for his second major title now stands at 12 years, longer than the gap between McIlroy's fourth and fifth. Rose, who was also runner-up at last year's Open Championship, may not have many more chances to get his hands on the sport's top prizes.

His next chance is at this week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where he will play alongside Cameron Smith and Brian Harman over the first two rounds, with the group teeing off at 1:39pm UK time on Thursday.

McIlroy boasts an ominous record at the North Carolina course, where he has won four PGA Tour titles. The Masters champion is scheduled to tee off not long before Rose and Co at 1:22pm BST alongside defending champion Xander Schauffele and world No. 1

Jordan Spieth, who needs to win the US PGA to join McIlroy, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen in golf's most exclusive club of career Slam winners, gets his campaign underway at 6:25pm BST alongside former Masters champion Patrick Reed and Ryder Cup star Ludvig Aberg. Three-time winner Brooks Koepka will get his bid for another title underway at 12:38pm BST in the company of former Open champion Shane Lowry and Rickie Fowler.