If it is Thursday at Augusta National then it must be Justin Rose leading – and, alas, it must be Rory McIlroy falling short.
While Rose shot a 65 to lead by three, McIlroy dropped four shots in two disastrous holes on the 15th and 17th, just when it looked as if the world No 2 was about to produce the fast Masters start for which the game has long been waiting. He stormed off without talking to the media.
McIlroy’s level-par 72 was not disastrous, but it could and should have been so much better and the finish hardly inspired confidence that this will be the week when he finally completes the career grand slam. What he would give for Rose’s record between these towering pines.
For the fifth time, the Englishman has the advantage after the first round of Masters – and that is a tournament record. However, that is not to suggest he is a perennial flash in the Georgia pan.
Rose has finished second twice at the Masters and is the only player to have led or shared the lead after each round, without winning. He has led or shared the lead after nine rounds. Rose is the only player with multiple opening rounds of 65 or better in Masters history. He truly is the National specialist without a Green Jacket.
Could this be the year? Beaten in a play-off by Sergio García in 2017, it is fair to say these fairways owe him one. He is 44 and does not contend as much as he used to in regular events. But show him a major title and the golfer who finished in fourth as a skinny 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 Open is reborn.
In the most recent major, at Royal Troon last July, he came second to Xander Schauffele. The 2013 US Open champion is sure that there is another biggie left in his locker and this seven-under 65 was merely the latest evidence.
Another one! Justin Rose records his eighth birdie of the day and moves to eight under par. #themasterspic.twitter.com/oxh2mmUbj1
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025
He bogeyed the 18th, just as eight birdies left him poised to compile his lowest ever score in his 71st round here. But still he carries a three-shot lead into Friday over world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Canadian Corey Connors.
“Typically day one they set the course up quite difficult so I went out there trying to be patient and just got off to a flyer,” Rose said. “From that moment I felt I was definitely on the front foot. The ball was going exactly where I was looking and began to feel there was a good round in me. Just 18 I guess came unstuck but for the most part it was a great day.”
Rose’s countryman Tyrrell Hatton is tied with Bryson DeChambeau on fifth on three-under, while 65-year-old Fred Couples took his adoring support on yet another trip down Memory/Magnolia Lane with a one-under 71, lit up by an eagle on the 14th courtesy of holing out from 191 yards.
Into the hole from 191 yards. Fred Couples eagles No. 14! #themasters
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