Justin Rose opened with a spectacular round of 7-under 65 at Augusta National, and will take a four-shot lead into Friday’s second round of the 2021 Masters.

The 40-year old Englishman got off to a slow start on Thursday, carding five pars and two bogeys over his first seven holes at the iconic Georgia track. But starting on the par-5 8th, Rose produced one of the best 11-hole stretches in Masters history, featuring an eagle and seven birdies, highlighted by two sets of hat tricks, to secure the day-one marquee spot on 7 under.

“Yeah, it maybe settled me down if I’m honest,” said Rose, when asked if the eagle helped launch his run of scores.

“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. You can’t win the golf tournament today. Even with a 65 you can’t win it today. You can only probably lose it today, obviously.

“And I was very aware being a couple over through 7 that things weren’t — I didn’t hit the panic button yet, but I reset just prior to that and thought if I can get myself back around even par, you know, that would be a good day’s work.

Rose continued, “So obviously the eagle, boom, straight back in there, and I guess almost just piggybacking with a birdie straightaway at No. 9, suddenly I turned in 1-under, and I could feel like I could actually leave the front nine behind as a job well done and kind of move to the back nine and try and build a score.

“From that point on I kind of was aware that the lead was only three, and if I played a decent back nine it was basically a very good day’s work. And then 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.”

Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama were four off the pace at 3-under par. The Japanese star held the early clubhouse lead after a morning round of 69, highlighted by an eagle and two birdies.

Harman, who had an early afternoon tee time, finished with one bogey against four birdies, including three late gains on Nos. 13, 15, and 18 to join Matsuyama at T2.

Four players were tied for fourth on 2-under par, including Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Will Zalatoris, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Highlighted by a late chip-in eagle, Jordan Spieth overcame a triple-bogey on the par-4 9th hole to sign for a day-one 71, good for T8 alongside Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Si Woo Kim, and Jason Kokrak.

“Somewhat typical for me at the Masters, I guess,” said Spieth. “Some good golf, and then some fireworks on both ends. Yeah, I mean, I made really two bad swings off the tee on 9 and 13, got away with one of them and didn’t with the other.

“Other than that, I struck the ball really, really well. I didn’t putt particularly well, but all in all, I would have signed up for 1-under to start the round if I had 17 pars and a birdie. I thought the bounceback after 9 was the story of the day there for me to go 3-under on the back nine and obviously got very lucky on 15.

“In position. I mean, six back after one round, I’m glad the course is firm if you’re six back after one round. So I’m not really going to be focused, I don’t think, on Rosey – that’s a heck of a round. And just assume that this golf course is going to be just as challenging going forward and pick your spots.”

Seven more players were tied at even-par 72, including Xander Schauffele, Kevin Kisner, and Jon Rahm.

2021 Masters Tournament Leaderboard

Masters Top 10: Round 1

Pos-Player-To Par (Score)
1. Justin Rose -7 (65)
2. Brian Harman -3 (69)
2. Hideki Matsuyama -3 (69)
4. Webb Simpson -2 (70)
4. Patrick Reed -2 (70)
4. Will Zalatoris -2 (70)
4. Chris Bezuidenhout -2 (70)
8. Jordan Spieth -1 (71)
8. Shane Lowry -1 (71)
8. Tyrrell Hatton -1 (71)
8. Si Woo Kim -1 (71)
8. Jason Kokrak -1 (71)

Masters Notables: Round 1

Pos-Player-To Par (Score)
13. Xander Schauffele E (72)
13. Jon Rahm E (72)
20. Gary Woodland E (73)
20. Scottie Scheffler +1 (73)
20. Justin Thomas +1 (73)
20. Collin Morikawa +1 (73)
20. Henrik Stenson +1 (73)
20. Viktor Hovland +1 (73)
20. Paul Casey +1 (73)
30. Tommy Fleetwood +2 (74)
30. Francesco Molinari +2 (74)
30. Adam Scott +2 (74)
30. Tony Finau +2 (74)
30. Ian Poulter +2 (74)
30. Bubba Watson +2 (74)
30. Dustin Johnson +2 (74)
30. Brooks Koepka +2 (74)
52. Phil Mickelson +3 (75)
52. Daniel Berger +3 (75)
60. Bryson DeChambeau +4 (76)
60. Billy Horschel +4 (76)
60. Louis Oosthuizen +4 (76)
60. Rory McIlroy +4 (76)
60. Sergio Garcia +4 (76)
72. Jason Day +5 (77)
72. Sungjae Im +5 (77)
75. Lee Westwood +6 (78)
75. Matt Kuchar +6 (78)
80. Patrick Cantlay +7 (79)
80. Fred Couples +7 (79)
80. Vijay Singh +7 (79)

Justin Rose’s Round-1 Stats

Topline Numbers:
Driving: 282 yards (72nd)
Fairways: 85.7%, 12/14 (13th)
Greens: 72.2%, 12/18 (5th)
Putts Per GIR: 1.923 (1st)
To Par: 1 Eagle, 7 Birdies, 8 Pars, 1 Bogeys

Scoring:
Par-5s (-4) 1 Eagle, 2 Birdies, 1 Par
Par-4s (-1) 3 Birdies, 2 Bogeys, 5 Pars
Par-3s (-2) 2 Birdies, 2 Pars
Amen Corner: (-2) Par-Birdie-Birdie

QUOTABLES

“The big leaderboard creates enough pressure. This stuff, I know a lot of you guys now, it feels really part of the job now if I’m honest. I try to be truthful. I try to just say what’s on my mind and how I’m feeling and talk from my heart out here, but I think my mindset can change a lot from now to tomorrow morning and when I play.

“So I haven’t had a chance to really reflect on it, and I haven’t had a chance to come down from the round of golf. So really tomorrow hasn’t started yet for me. I’m happy to talk freely right now, and I’ll worry about tomorrow in a little bit.”
– Justin Rose

2021 Masters Leaderboard

Credit: Masters.com