Traditional April weekend in Augusta
The 85th Masters, complete with limited in-person fans, heats up for a weekend of action in the first major of 2021 for men’s golf.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Justin Rose was just another name in the middle of the leaderboard late on Thursday afternoon, his score of 2 over through seven holes as dull as the gray skies above.
Then the Englishman who has been so close to slipping on the green jacket lit up the famous white scoreboards with plenty of red numbers.
In a 10-hole stretch ignited by an eagle from short range on the par-5 eighth, Rose was 9 under on a firm and fast course that was causing fits for most everyone else and he soared to the lead after the first round of the 85th Masters.
Rose went eagle-birdie-birdie-parbirdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdiepar to finish his round of 7-under-par 65 and left the Augusta National Golf Club’s grounds with a four-shot lead.
It was his career best by two shots at Augusta National in 59 rounds and 9.5 shot better than the field average.
“I kind of knew 2 over through seven is not the end of the world, but also knew you’re going in the wrong direction,” Rose said. “I didn’t hit the panic button, but I reset just prior to that and thought if I can get myself back around even par, that would be a good day’s work.”
Well, it became a great day’s work. “I just got on a great run and was just trying to stay out of my own way and just try to get it to the clubhouse and keep doing what I was doing,” he said. “I putted the ball beautifully and read the greens unbelievably well. If you had said to me walking up the eighth hole (I’d shoot 65), I’d have said no chance, this course is playing a little too tricky for that. But it’s incredible. It’s a good reminder that you just never know what can happen out there, just to stick with it on the golf course.”
Four shots back in second were Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama, who is trying to complete a Land of the Rising Sun major double at Augusta National. Last week, 17-year-old Tsubasa Kajitani of Japan defeated Emilia Migliaccio on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the second Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The 29-year-old Matsuyama, the best golfer from golf-crazy Japan who is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and eight-time winner on the Japan Golf
Tour, could become the first male player from Japan to win a major.
Two women from Japan have won majors: Hisako Higuchi (1977 LPGA Championship) and Hinako Shibuno (2019 Women’s British Open).
In at 70 and five shots back were 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, Will Zalatoris (who was ranked 483rd exactly one year ago), 2012 U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Defending champion and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who shattered scoring records en route to winning the Masters in November, opened with a 74.
Rose, 40, who finished in a tie for second in 2015 and lost in a playoff to Sergio Garcia in 2017, took the first-round lead at the Masters for the fourth time. He did so on a windswept day when the scoring average was north of 74.5. And he did so in his first tournament since back spasms forced him to withdraw in the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational five weeks ago.
Rose has been struggling with his form since golf returned in June following a 13-week break due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. In 19 starts worldwide, he’s mustered just three top-10s. The 2013 U.S. Open winner at Merion, who has 10 PGA Tour titles and eight European Tour victories, has fallen to 41st in the official world golf rankings, his lowest mark since 2010.