Masters Round 1: Justin Rose Fires 65 to Lead Augusta as Rory McIlroy's Late Doubles Sting

Justin Rose is 44 years old, he has never won a green jacket, and on Thursday he made Augusta National look like a member's course on a quiet weekday.

Rose shot a 7-under 65 to open the 89th Masters with a three-shot lead. Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners are tied for second at 4-under 68. Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton sit at 3 under after 69s, and Jason Day, Aaron Rai, Harris English and Akshay Bhatia are bunched at 2 under. Rory McIlroy, who stood at 4 under with four holes to play, signed for an even-par 72.

Hot Start, Hotter Putter

Rose opened with three straight birdies, the first time he has ever started a Masters that way, and one of them came from about 25 feet. He kept going around the turn, rolling in birdies at the par-5 8th from about 6 feet and the 9th from 5 feet, and went out in 31, the lowest front nine of his career at Augusta.

He added birdies at 15 from 10 feet and at 16 from 20 feet for his eighth of the day. A bogey at the last was the only smudge. The flat stick did the heavy lifting: Rose gained more than 5 strokes on the greens, according to theScore, more than two clear of anyone else in the field.

"Today was a great putting round," Rose said, per theScore. "I holed a lot of medium- to long-range putts and took my chances when I hit great shots."

The scoring average was 73.6, so Rose was nearly nine shots better than an average card, on greens Viktor Hovland described as "so firm," per the AP. Asked about the 65, Hovland's verdict was blunt: "Ridiculous."

A Record Nicklaus Used to Own

This is the fifth time Rose has held at least a share of the first-round lead at the Masters, a tournament record that moves him past Jack Nicklaus. It is also the eighth time he has led or co-led after any round at Augusta, and the PGA TOUR notes that the only other players to do that are all Masters champions.

That is the uncomfortable part of the story for Rose. He has been here before, including the playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017, and the front of the leaderboard on Thursday has never translated into a jacket. He knows the clock is running.

"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, per the AP.

The Chasers Mean Business

The names three shots back are not a soft landing. Scheffler, the defending champion and the No. 1 player in the world, went bogey-free for 68 in his bid for a third green jacket in four years. He was 3 under at the turn after holing a 62-footer at the 4th and saving birdie at the 8th from a divot, then dropped a 42-foot bomb at 16. That round gives him the best first-round scoring average in Masters history among players with at least five starts, according to theScore.

Aberg, the runner-up in his Masters debut a year ago, played the kind of round that shows he learned the place fast. His only blemish was a bogey at the par-3 4th, and he led the field in strokes gained tee to green, per theScore. "This place, experience goes a long way, and I felt like we played a very disciplined round of golf today," Aberg said, per Reuters.

Conners did it with a late kick, birdieing three of his final four holes to post 68 and briefly sit as the clubhouse leader. DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion, made seven birdies in his 69 and seemed oddly at peace with the bogeys. "Making some bogeys for me probably frees me up a little bit," he said, per the AP. Hatton matched that 69, giving LIV Golf two players inside the top five.

Rory's Familiar Thursday Ache

For 14 holes, McIlroy was 4 under with four birdies and no bogeys, hunting a career Grand Slam and playing like it.

Then the par-5 15th. His second shot flew the green, and the pitch back came out too hot, ran across the putting surface and trickled into the pond. Double bogey. Two holes later at 17, his approach bounded long, left him short-sided to a tight pin, and he walked off with another double. Four shots gone in three holes, and a round that looked headed for the 60s ended at 72.

That is now seven straight Masters where McIlroy has failed to break 70 in the opening round. He declined to speak to the media afterward. He sits in a group tied for 27th, seven back of the lead.

Beyond the Top Ten

Fred Couples, at 65 years old, shot 71 and became only the second player that age to break par at the Masters, helped by a hole-out from the fairway at the 14th. Jon Rahm opened with 75 and Xander Schauffele with 73, both in need of a Friday push. The other end of the day was brutal for Nick Dunlap, whose 90 was the highest score at Augusta since Ben Crenshaw's 91 in 2015.

What Friday Brings

Only six players broke 70 on a firm, fast course with very little wind, so a three-shot lead at Augusta is meaningful. It is also only 18 holes old. Rose has the putter and the history, Scheffler has the steadiness that has defined his last few years here, and Aberg and Conners have the form. McIlroy has one night to sort out what happened on 15 and 17 before the cut line enters the conversation.

The PGA TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has the full story of the day.

Sources: PGA TOUR, AP, Reuters, theScore, Golf Channel. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images via PGA TOUR.