Paul Casey and Justin Rose both believe the Masters can be an important step on the road to becoming major champions.

Casey, joint third with a round to play, had to settle for a share of sixth place on Sunday after a closing 74.

Rose, leader by two after the first and second rounds, came back from his horrific Saturday 81 with a 71 and was 22nd.

Having thought he might become the first Augusta debutant to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 - and only the fourth ever - Casey said: "This gives me a real taste for it. It has been fantastic.

"I handled the nerves very well. I was nice and relaxed out there.

"I didn't hit bad shots under pressure, but the putts didn't drop. Maybe it was tough to follow up two good rounds with another one.

"The last two tournaments over here have been great." He was 10th on his debut in the Players Championship. "Two top-10 finishes in the two of the biggest events of the year. And I feel I can win this tournament some day if I keep learning and keep plugging away."

Casey was paired on the final day with Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer, who moved into a share for the lead on the front nine, but went into the lake for a double bogey seven at the 15th and ended up joint fourth with a charging Sergio Garcia.

"He certainly kept his nerve," said 46-year-old Langer, who had made such a determined bid not only to take a third Masters crown, but also to take over from Jack Nicklaus as the oldest-ever winner.

"He enjoyed the atmosphere and just made a bunch of silly mistakes. He played much better than he scored. He didn't putt extremely well, but hit a lot of good shots and played very well for a first-timer here.

"He will store away a lot of good memories that will help him over the next few years."

Rose, of course, takes away mixed memories. The highs of leading, then the low of his third round.

The 23-year-old commented: "I just went AWOL (absent without leave) on Saturday. There are a lot of positives to take out of the week and all-in-all it has been a good week, but it was a rollercoaster and the third round cost me the chance of winning a major.

"Maybe you have to lead a couple before you can win one. I have learnt a lot. Leading a major was new ground and that will stand me in good stead."

Not for the first time in a professional career that began with 21 successive missed cuts, Rose was praised for how he conducted himself.

"There were one or two comments, which was nice. It's embarrassing enough to shoot 81, let alone behave badly and make yourself look like a real idiot. The comments made the day a little more bearable - but the round was almost so bad you had to smile about it."

Garcia's 66 was the low round of the week, but he was grouchy afterwards and appeared to have a bone to pick with those who had commented critically on his slide from fourth in the world to nearly 50th.

All smiles, though, was Padraig Harrington after a hole-in-one at the 16th - amazingly, followed 10 minutes later by another from Kirk Triplett.

The Dubliner might have had higher hopes than 13th, but he was battling with a stiff neck on the last day. Perhaps it was caused by carrying the jinx of the eve-of-tournament par three winner for the second year running.

Memo for next April. Don't play it.