AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Rose has not yet reached the Rocky Balboa pump-up speech portion of his Masters career, but the point cannot be overstated — it says a lot about the man (not the golfer) that Rose continually gets back up after getting knocked down. he may have stumbled coming into the clubhouse Thursday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club amid a day where “crispy” and “crusty” were used to describe the golf course (not the local pizza joint down Washington Road), but the Englishman rose up the leaderboard across his first 18 holes to set up what could be a magical 21st tournament appearance.
Rose’s opening 70 was not enough for a record sixth first-round lead in the Masters, but it was enough to position him second all-time with 10 top 10s at Augusta National when the tournament reaches its 18-hole mark. Only Phil Mickelson, a three-time green jacket winner, has more (11).
Rose finds himself sharing sixth-place with fellow major champions Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler. The quartet looks up to the man they all eyed in this tournament 12 months ago as defending champion Rory McIlroy signed for a 67, one shot worse than his best round achieved twice while completing his grand slam. Patrick Reed and Jason Day have gotten off to hot starts — just as they did a year ago — with Rose facing the possibility of a sequel with hopes for a different ending.
“The lead at this point is irrelevant,” Rose said. “There’s so much golf ahead that there’s no point in even looking at who is doing what at this moment in time. It’s just about just executing your strategy, feeling like you can run the clock down, playing as well as you can, and then towards the end you’ve got to kind of figure out if you need to change your strategy. But until the final few holes, really, it’s just about doing as good as can you do.”
The 45-year-old more than understands the cadence of major championships and the cliches that come with them. The Masters does not start until the second nine on Sunday. Leave your ball below the hole. You can’t win the tournament on Thursday, but you can certainly lose it.
As eye-rolling as some may sound, they are said for a reason: they’re mostly true.
Rose will navigate his next 54 holes in a way that speaks to his experience. He noted that last year’s third round was the performance that really bothered him when looking back at the 2025 tournament. Rose shot the sixth-highest score of the day with his 75 and bled strokes to the field on the greens. No doubt, it will be on his mind heading into Saturday.
But that won’t happen until Friday is conquered. Off early in the day and receiving a slight — slight — reprieve from the pizza-like conditions under which this golf course has baked, Rose will have a chance to better position himself in this tournament. If he can do so accordingly, perhaps the three-time runner-up will end his fight more like Balboa in “Rocky II.”
Rory in rarified air
Isn’t it funny how a place can go from being a nightmare to a happy hunting ground? Relaxed enough to enjoy a drink (clarified as a Coke Zero) in the champions’ locker room following his first-round 67, McIlroy may have history on the line on Sunday. First, he had to make some on Thursday while flexing on the field, perhaps indicating that he’s now even more dangerous at Augusta National with a green jacket in his locker.
The Northern Irishman became just the sixth reigning champion to grab the first-round lead in his title defense at the Masters, the first since Jordan Spieth a decade ago to do so. McIlroy’s 67 marked the second-lowest first 18 holes of his career at Augusta National and his first sub-70 effort on a Thursday since 2018. That same year, McIlroy played in the final pairing on Sunday.
McIlroy noted that he felt like he got more than his fair share out of his round, believing a 2-under 70 would have sufficed based on how he played the first nine. Instead, he did a few better, but he will need to improve off the tee if he is to keep pressing his luck. McIlroy split just five fairways in the first round, and as Augusta National continues to get crustier, playing from the fairways == especially with his length — will only become more advantageous.
What concerns?
Remember when Scheffer was a horrible first-round performer? Or how about this one: Remember when his iron play had fallen off a cliff? Scheffler was masterful in his first-round 70 as the world No. 1 announced his arrival with a 4-3-3 start that saw him reach 3 under early in his tournament.
While he gave one away over the course of his next 15 holes, the two-time Masters champion let everyone know that (1) there is no rust having not played since The Players Championship and (2) he will have his say in this tournament. Scheffler drove the ball on a string on Thursday, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and trailing only Michael Brennan in terms of strokes gained off the tee.
He ranked fourth in strokes gained tee to green, and if not for letting some par-5 opportunities through his grasp, Scheffler was just about flawless. Like Rose, Scheffler understands this is just the first lap of the race and major championships tend to be marathons, rather than sprints, and over the last four years, he has been the one collecting the bulk of the medals.
Augusta National shines
There was a moment in the early evening on the par-5 13th where Scheffler, Gary Woodland and Robert MacIntyre were eyeing scoring chances. Scheffler and Woodland were forced to lay up, and did so by pushing their seconds down the fairways and in line with the fall line so they could pitch their thirds up it. MacIntyre, meanwhile, hit his drive far enough that he was able to push the envelope and ultimately found the putting surface in two.
All three players played their fourth shots from off the green.
This place is as good as it gets, even for Augusta National’s standards. Without the typical spring rains and that annual pesky storm that halts play and halts the momentum of the golf course, Augusta National is shining under the Georgia sun. Tournament officials can have their way with this place the rest of the way if they wish. They know it, patrons know it, and most importantly, the players know it, too.
Rory McIlroy: “As it gets drier, the grass around the greens gets stickier, that ryegrass. So it makes it more difficult to hit the bump and runs. It also makes the putting through that grass a little bit trickier as well. When the greens get that firm, you really have to think about where the best miss is, and distance control is very important, but also, like, different — missing it left, missing it right.
“When the greens get like this, it’s not going to be soft. So when the greens do get firm like this, it makes it a much more tactical test, and you really have to think about things. As you guys know, I’ve said for the last few years, I’ve started to really relish that type of golf. I really want to excel at that type of golf.”
Shane Lowry: “I think this could be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while. You look at the forecast. They can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend. Over the last few years, we’ve had a day every year where it’s been raining, or it’s been heavy rains. It’s kind of helped us a little bit, but I think before the week is out, it’s going to get very, very crusty around here.”
Patrick Reed: “You could tell when you are walking on it and trying to fix a ball mark — I actually broke one tee on the hole trying to fix a ball mark. You already know it’s going to get crusty. You know it’s going to get fast, and it’s going to take a lot of patience.”
Xander Schauffele: “The course is lush. They’re doing what they want with the greens. That’s the beauty about this place. I do feel, when Rory won last year, I feel like they were pretty slick as well. Then, dating 2-3 years back, maybe it’s gone the direction where it’s got a little bit more of the brown in them, that sort of slickness. Just got to adjust. I think adjusting is going to be the big thing. Positioning yourself is really important, too.”
Min Woo Lee: “I take back what I said on Tuesday. I didn’t think it was that firm. Now it’s like a Saturday firm, I would say for a Thursday, which is not really normal.”
LIV Golf stars unravel
After needing 76 shots to complete his first round, Bryson DeChambeau decided to hit another 200 on the tournament practice area afterwards. The two-time U.S. Open champion was on the shortlist of potential winners at the onset of the week, but his tournament was flipped on its head on the par-4 11th for the second consecutive year, only this time it came on Thursday.
Greenside in two, DeChambeau needed three shots to get out of the bunker and put a triple bogey on his scorecard. Momentum was never gained from there as he exchanged two bogeys and a birdie across his final three holes to come in at 4 over and in need of a big round Friday evening just to see the weekend.
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” DeChambeau said. “The ball flew 12 yards farther than I wanted it to. I had a good shot.”
His fellow LIV Golf member finds himself in the same boat, albeit with a bigger wave to navigate. The 2023 champion noted that he had no feel in his swing and that sensation carried over to the greens, where Jon Rahm ranked third-to-last in Round 1, ahead of only Mike Weir and amateur Mateo Pulcini. Rahm’s 78 puts him in legitimate danger of missing the weekend at the Masters for the first time in his career.
“It’s a hard golf course,” Rahm said. “Some of the players might have been able to manage a respectable round, but when you have no feel with the swing whatsoever, it’s just not an easy one. What I manage? Hopefully get some physio, get some dinner, get something positive going in that sense. Tomorrow is a new day. It’s going to be a very much more uphill battle right now, but I’m going to have to come out tomorrow and most likely post something in the 60s to have a chance to make the cut and give myself a chance on the weekend.”
Old schools the youths
There were seven groupings in the first round that featured a past champion and a player who could be labelled as a “bomber,” and they were surprisingly highly contested bouts. José María Olazábal took it to Gen Zer Aldrich Potgieter, while Fred Couples had Min Woo Lee’s number until he made the number of all numbers on the par-5 15th in the form of a nine. That score was later matched by Robert MacIntyre.
Every player on the first few pages of the leaderboard uttered the word “experience” at some point in their post-round media sessions, and it was put on full display Thursday. It’s not the sexiest golf sometimes, but it always seems to be the correct golf — missing away from the dog legs, to the fat side of the green, below the holes, taking medicine when the doctor calls for it and scoring on the par 5s. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Or something that takes years and years to learn around Augusta National.
“It’s fun. It’s very fun. It’s fun at all times,” Couples said. “It’s challenging at all times. But it’s getting really, really firm. I don’t know what they’ll do tonight. I know I have an early morning tee time tomorrow, so that might help me stop a ball on the green. I still have to hit it, like I did the first 13 or 14 holes. It’s really rock hard…For the really good players I think they want it like this.
“I know the Jon Rahms and Schefflers and Spieths and Rorys. And by the way, Rory may never lose this thing again after last year. I said that on about the 12th hole to my caddie. Then he birdied a couple coming in. You know, he’s really good. He hits it so solid. Scheffler. But I enjoyed it. It stinks to finish that way. I can’t explain it. I’m a little numb because I was cruising along. And I can get it up and down. I’m not the greatest chipper, but around here, I know what I’m doing. Wow, a nine. That’s not real fun.”
First tee jitters
There are first tee jitters and then there are first tee jitters at the Masters. A tournament that every player in this field grew up watching on television and dreaming about playing, the Masters makes major championship nerves look like mincemeat at times. Here is what debutant Ryan Gerard had to say after battling back from a first nine 39 to card an even-par round. (He was not alone.)
“Dude, I was so much more nervous than I thought I was going to be,” Gerard said. “I was like ‘Oh, it’s not that bad. I’ve played majors before. This isn’t too crazy.’ Then I got up there, and we’re sitting there for a little bit longer than — I probably got to the tee a little bit earlier than I should have because then I was waiting for a while. Now I’m sitting around like, ‘OK, wait, wait wait.’
“Keegan [Bradley] blew it way right, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ Then I just smother hooked it in the left trees, so I’m glad I didn’t take it off someone’s forehead early on in the round. Yeah, it was definitely more nerve-wracking. Probably the fastest club speed I’ll hit all year on the first tee there. Yeah, just I think I’ll be more prepared for tomorrow.
“You know, my first ever tee shot in a major was the tenth hole at the Country Club at Brookline. It was my first as a professional. Most nervous I’ve ever been in my life, and that probably comes close to this right here. The next day, you kind of have an idea what to expect. Couple more deep breaths and just trust it.”
Gary keeps going
It’s a story that seems to get more impressive by the week as 2019 U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland stood Thursday as one of 16 players to find red figures — just one of three to do so in the afternoon wave. Ever since he lifted the weight of his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, Woodland has lifted his game with his win in Houston, granting him an invitation into the Masters.
“The love and support is amazing,” Woodland said. “Obviously, here everyone is so respectful anyway, but the love and support I got, you know, obviously it was a nice crowd playing with Scottie. You have a big crowd. But to feel the love and support out there was awesome.”
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