On his way back from Spain last year, Justin Rose made a pact with himself that it would be his last trip to Tour School. After two weeks in South Africa he has earned £135,000 sterling thanks to successive second places, and the man who missed 21 successive cuts as a novice pro can now say that he truly belongs on tour.

Rose finished as runner-up to Adam Scott in last week's Alfred Dunhill Championship and, after wildly fluctuating fortunes on the back nine, finished second behind his playing partner Mark McNulty in the South African Open.

McNulty was celebrating his 50th win worldwide, but he shares a coach with Rose in David Leadbetter and said: "I've known Justin since he was a kid and I said to him on the course today that a win was very, very close for him.

"He'll be the better for what's happened to him in the last two years and as long as he keeps knocking on the door one day it will fall down."

Rose's life has changed so dramatically in the last two weeks that instead of slogging on tour week by week he is now contemplating taking time off. He said: "I'm thinking about going home and spending time with the family, and maybe I'll be able to play less now and make sure that when I do peg it up I'm in the best position to play."

Last week Rose missed a sixfoot putt on the last hole that would have got him into a playoff, and as fate would have it he found himself in the same position in East London, this time with a 15-footer to contemplate. McNulty had holed a 30-foot putt from off the green to save par, but Rose could not follow him in and had to be content with the £78,000 for second place.

Rose was left to rue a two-foot putt that lipped out on the 10th, where he three putted from 10 feet.

"I feel that the way I'm playing a win is just around the corner and maybe what's missing is just a putt here and there that goes in.

"But what's great about the last two weeks is that my game has held up in two incredibly different conditions. Last week at Houghton it was target golf in perfect conditions on great greens. This week it was links golf with stiff wind and grainy greens".

Rose's only complaint was that he missed his flight to Australia, where the European Tour now moves, and will arrive only on Tuesday night ahead of the Heineken Classic at the Vines Resort in Perth.

The day began with Rose and McNulty three shots off the pace set by Hennie Otto. But the young South African blew his chances with an outward nine of 40 shots.

Otto handed the initiative to his playing partner, Roger Wessels, who mixed three bogeys with three birdies to be out in level par.

Wessels made steady pars at the next six holes, but nerves got to him in the closing stretch as he missed a short putt to bogey the 16th.

McNulty's birdie four at the 15th caused a two-shot swing with the Zimbabwean in the lead for the first time at eight under par.

McNulty was able to watch Wessels' approach at the last from the safety of the scorer's tent. Needing a birdie to force a play-off, Wessels went through the green with his approach, chipped back weakly and missed a 10-footer for par.

It dropped him back into a tie for third with Thomas Bjorn at six under par and handed Rose his runners-up cheque.

McNulty's 71 was the only score below par among the leaders, but the early starters had dramatically different conditions. The wind did not start blowing properly until just before noon and the man who made the most of it was Sheffield-based Malcolm Mackenzie, whose nine-under-par 63 was a course record. He hit nine birdies to finish in a tie for seventh place.