April 08-11
Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

When assessing the career of Justin Rose, one must pay special attention to two noteworthy achievements -- winning the Gold Medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and three years earlier claiming his only major championship to date -- the U.S. Open at Merion. For many golfers such wins would be impressive but given the level of talent Rose has demonstrated on the world golf stage since his rousing hole-out at the final hole as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1999 Open Championship there's more work to be done.

Now at age 40 -- the Englishman is keenly aware the major championship spigot can easily go from a free flow to bone dry in no time at all. Rose is also aware that having only one major championship title to his name is clearly less than what his considerable talents should have produced by this point in his career.

During Thursday's opening round for the 85th Masters, he started in a rear-view direction-- two-over-par following the 7th hole. However, after a brilliant second shot at the par-5 8th, Rose holed the putt for an eagle. This jumpstarted the round and birdies followed at the 9th, 10th, 12th and 13th holes. A key to the round came with a lengthy par putt made at the 14th and Justin kept the momentum going with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes before finishing with a closing par at the 18th. In sum, Rose played the final 11 holes in 9-under for a superb 65 and the opening round lead by four shots over Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and the USA's Brian Harman.

Having the opening round lead at Augusta is not new territory for Rose — it’s his 3rd time tying him with Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth and Lloyd Mangrum for most all-time. The key thing is that Nicklaus and Spieth would go on to win a Masters title in their careers. That’s something Rose wants to match. However, in the three instances in which Rose had at least a share of the first-round lead, in 2004, 2007 and 2008, he followed-up going backwards scoring a combined 25-over-par in the final three rounds.

Justin's best finishes at Augusta include two runner-up positions - including a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. The four-shot opening round lead ties the greatest margin set by Jackie Burke in the 1955 Masters.

For the last few years Rose has been hampered by back issues which have flared up and had him pull out of events. In addition, he went through an equipment switch which did not pan out as well and has since been righted.

Justin has not won on the PGA Tour in over two years, and his play this year has produced just one top-30 finish in five worldwide starts. Going into this week's Masters his winning odds were posted at a 100-to-1 -- his longest odds since the 2011 PGA Championship.

Rose is the 11th player in the past 50 Masters tournaments to hold a multi-stroke lead after the first round. Only one of them -- Jordan Spieth in 2015 -- was able to snare the green jacket. Rose was one of those players -- leading by two strokes after the first round in 2004 -- finishing in a tie for 22nd.

The scuttlebutt among media cognoscenti was English golf is now the domain of such emerging talents as Tyrell Hatton, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Matt Wallace.

With 54 holes left to play -- this may be the best -- and last -- great opportunity for Justin to silence all and demonstrate the bloom is far from off this Rose.

Masters Notes:

• The top ten players in the world rankings encountered heavy resistance from an Augusta National Golf club that was anything but user-friendly. World number one and defending champion Dustin Johnson finished with a two-over-par 74 and his round concluded with a double-bogey 6 at the 18th. Only three of the top ten ranked players shot even par or better -- leading the way are Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson at 70; Tyrell Hatton fired a one-under-par 71 and Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are at even par. Notables such as Brooks Koepka finished with a 74 and Rory McIlroy limped home with a 76.

• How tough was Augusta National for Thursday's opening round? The scoring average over the 1st round from the November scheduled Masters in 2020 was 71.40. This year's average jumped over three shots higher at 74.52. Firm turf conditions in concert with varying wind velocities were vexing for many players. The weather pattern is expected to be uneven the next two days - with possible thunderstorms threatening play most especially Saturday.

• Only three amateurs are playing in this year's event. The low score Thursday came from the 2020 U.S. Amateur runner-up Charles Osborne at 76.

• The toughest hole through round one was the 11th hole - playing to a 4.51 stroke average. The stingiest hole in terms of birdies made was the 1st -- only one was made.

• Patrons were permitted to attend the event unlike the November 2020 event. Augusta National does not release exact figures but the ballpark estimate was that the overall size was capped at roughly 20-25%.

• Lee Elder joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player as honorary starters for this year's Masters. Elder was the first Black golfer to be invited to the event in 1975. Elder was unable to hit a ceremonial drive at the 1st because of ongoing health issues and used his driver as a cane to stand while acknowledging the applause from those gathered around the 1st tee.

• Sad to say the opening ceremonies were marred when Gary Player's son -- Wayne - who served as an honorary caddie for his father worked his way into a background camera angle and could easily be seen holding a black sleeve of Encore golf balls. Gary Player endorses the golf balls and is an investor with the company. Encore replied through a written statement from CEO Keith Blakely -- "We did not ask or instruct Mr. Player to have our ball sleeve visible during the ceremony and are sorry if his actions caused any offense or was a distraction from the wonderful recognition being paid to Mr. Elder."