Justin Rose said he never expected Masters champion Jordan Spieth to give him an opportunity at Augusta on Sunday.
The Englishman birdied the first two holes of his final round on his way to a two-under 70, which saw him finish at 14 under and tied for second but four shots behind Spieth.
Rose said Spieth was never likely to give him an opportunity, with the 21-year-old American mostly untroubled during the final round.
"There's two ways to look at it. It's 14 under par – I'll take that next year, and I'll take that the year after, I'll take it the year after. I'll take a lot of confidence from that," he said.
"You've got to play it on the day too and I felt there were a couple of times, it sort of, there were a few moments out there that I could've done better and I'll learn on that and think about that.
"Jordan didn't really open the door and I didn't really expect him to. He's played with a lead now, it feels like for the last month and he's obviously got very comfortable doing that. He was clutch with the putter again today."
Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, felt he could potentially catch Spieth at the start of the round, but he lamented his bogey at the par-three sixth.
"I think it signalled my intent for sure [at the start of the round]. I knew I had to go out and play a great round of golf," he said.
"I knew there was a score out there, especially on the back nine. Birdies can be had and I knew if I could play a really good front nine then it could set me up for something pretty special today."