The opening day of the Masters was all about Justin Rose who opened up a four-shot lead after hitting a brilliant seven-under-par 65.
Two over after seven, the 40-year-old Englishman raced ahead at Augusta National with an eagle and seven birdies. Rose was one of just 12 players who shot under par, joined by Tyrrell Hatton and Open champion Shane Lowry at one under, as many looked to find their groove on Thursday.
Rory McIlroy finished four over while Lee Westwood ended the day six over. Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman broke 70 hitting three under-par while Patrick Reed, who won here back in 2018 to clinch the first major title of his career, shot a 70. Tommy Fleetwood finished on two-over 74 but hit a glorious hole-in-one on the par-three 16th hole.
Rose, who has not played for a month since the Arnold Palmer Invitational, will be hoping to take advantage of his lead having finished tied for second at Augusta six years ago before losing a play-off to Sergio Garcia in 2017.
It is the fourth time Rose has been first after the opening round at the Masters and speaking to BBC Sport, he said, "I guess the good news is I don't know what happened and that's when you play your best golf and get into the nice rhythm.
"Even though I saw red numbers on the board I didn't panic when I was two over through seven, that's the most important thing.
"I knew it was a day not to play yourself out of the tournament, the course had a lot of teeth to it. The pins were relatively fair so good golf shots could be rewarded and to be nine under for my last 11, you can never quite see that coming here at Augusta National."
Defending champion Dustin Johsnon, who won the previous Masters to don the famous green jacket last November, started with a bogey-birdie but recovered with a chip birdie on the 11th. He later struck a bogey on the 16th and squandered a bogey putt on the last, finishing two-over-par 74.
Jordan Spieth is one under par, while Jon Rahm, who became a father only days ago, is one further back.
