AUGUSTA, Ga.—Justin Rose did more than just match his best score at the Masters.
With a round that was nearly nine shots better than the field Thursday, the 44-year-old Rose managed to steal the spotlight from the Masters dominance of Scottie Scheffler and the endless quest of Rory McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam.
Rose felt his 7-under 65 had the potential to be something special. And even with a bogey on the final hole, it was every bit of that.
He opened with three straight birdies. He ran off three in a row around the turn. And he wound up with a three-shot lead over Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners.
“When I have been playing well, I feel like I have been competing at a high level,” Rose said. “My consistency maybe has not been as high this year. But my good is good again. So I’m excited about that.”
Scheffler did his part in his bid to win a third Masters green jacket in four years, playing a bogey-free round of 68.
McIlroy, so desperate to win this major and complete the career Grand Slam, was right there with him until the end. He took a pair of double bogeys late in the afternoon with careless mistakes and had to settle for a 72. It was the seventh straight time he failed to break 70 in the opening round of the Masters.
He declined to speak to the media after his round.
Rose set one Masters record: The fifth time he has had at least a share of the 18-hole lead, breaking the mark held by Jack Nicklaus. The glaring difference, of course, is Nicklaus has six of those green jackets.
It also was the eighth time Rose has had at least a share of the lead after any round at Augusta National, something only five others have done. All are Masters champions.
“I feel like I’ve played well enough to win this tournament,” said Rose, whose best chance was a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. “I just feel like I don’t have the jacket to prove it. ... But you’ve got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don’t shy away from it.”
Rose opened with a 25-foot birdie putt and made his eighth birdie with a 20-foot putt on the par-3 16th. In between was a series of good shots—smart shots—that gave him plenty of chances and he converted most of them.
Augusta National, soaked by rain that washed out most of the Monday practice round, already was getting scary fast.
The average score was 73.6. Only six players broke 70, and 20 others broke par.
“Ridiculous. That’s nuts,” Viktor Hovland said about Rose’s score. “Those greens are so firm. I remember a few years ago—I can’t remember what year it was—but he kind of did something similar. I think this one is probably a little bit more impressive because out of all the Masters I’ve played, this is probably the firmest it’s been on a Thursday. It’s definitely no joke out there.”
Scheffler was 3 under at the turn, including one birdie on the par-5 eighth in which his ball was deep in a divot hole short of the green. He managed to get that out some 20 feet left of the pin and used the slope to bring it back to 15 feet and made the putt.
He was rarely under stress.
“I struggled for what felt like two pars today,” Scheffler said “But other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”
U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton carried the LIV Golf flag, both at 69. DeChambeau had seven birdies in his up-and-down day, a show of his scoring power.
“Making some bogeys for me probably frees me up a little bit and says, you know what? Just go out and play some golf,” DeChambeau said.
The roars came early, along with a few shockers.
Fred Couples, who wondered a month ago if at 65 with a creaky back he would still be welcomed to play, became only the second player that age to break par. Couples holed out from the fairway on the 14th with a 6-iron hybrid on his way to a 71. Tom Watson was also 65—by 28 days he is still the oldest—when he shot 71 in 2015.
The horror show belonged to Nick Dunlap, a 21-year-old who last year won on the PGA Tour as an amateur. This must have felt like amateur hour when he made double bogey on the final hole for a 90. It was the highest score since Ben Crenshaw shot 91 in 2015 at ag 63.
Hideki Matsuyama might have caught the worst break when his approach into the par-5 13th hit the pin and caromed into the tributary of Rae’s Creek. The wildest day belonged to Nicolai Hojgaard—one eagle, five birdies, four pars, five bogeys and three double bogeys. Do the math and that comes out to 76.
“It’s mentally draining playing a round like this,” Hojgaard said.
And then there was McIlroy, chipping into the water from behind the 15th green for double bogey, and then going long on the 17th and compounding that mistake with a three-putt for another double bogey.
Far more blissful on a warm spring day was Rose, who at one point had it going so well that he felt like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter.
He pitched to 6 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth. He hit wedge to the ninth and used the slope to set up a 5-foot birdie, giving him a career-low 31 on the front nine. That was followed by a 12-foot birdie putt.
“That’s when the day felt a bit different. That’s when I felt I was doing something potentially more on the special side,” Rose said.
And then he really began to pull away from the field with a smart pitch away from the water to set up a 10-foot birdie on the 15th, followed by the 20-foot birdie on the 16th. The pins on the final two holes allowed for birdies and Rose was thinking super special. He got par-bogey instead that didn’t ruin his mood.
“I’m 44. Golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years, whatever it’s going to be,” Rose said. “So your opportunity is less going forward. So you have to make the most of it.”
