Thursday At The 89th Masters
Justin Rose opens with a 65 to lead Scheffler, Conners and Aberg by three. Plus, the 15th causes problems, The Honorary Starters shine and then opine, Quotables and Friday's forecast.
Round One By The Numbers
65: Low score by Justin Rose
4: Lower opening rounds in Masters history than Rose in ‘25
5: Times Rose has led or co-led after the first round
68: Score of defending champion Scottie Scheffler
16 of 21: Rounds Scheffler has been under par in his career
68: Score of 2024 runner-up Ludvig Aberg (73 last year)
71: Fred Couples, the second subpar Masters round by a 65+ golfer here
2: Couples’ score on the par 4 14th
73: Score of Hiroshi Tai, the low amateur after round one
33: Paces from the front for the 16th hole cup placement
90: High score by Nick Dunlap
4: Pars by Nicolai Hojgaard en route to 76
76: High temperature on Thursday
1: Player to relieve himself in the tributary of Rae’s Creek
Another brilliant weather day in Augusta saw Justin Rose and 26 players break par to open the 2025 Masters. With comfortably warm temps and breezes only rising to the level of “wind” a few times on a marathon day kicked off at 7:25 a.m. by the Honorary Starters, players faced a nice mix of hole locations on a brighter, wider, but challenging-as-ever Augusta National.
Rose’s 65 seems especially impressive given the course’s strong bias toward extreme length and young nerves. In mowing fairways toward the tees the evening before a round and following that with a healthy sprinkling of water, they effectively eliminate anything beyond some cursory roll. The setup tilts heavily toward the 320-yard Carry Society instead of types whose best hopes await in July at The Open.
“It was a really good day's golf on a golf course that was a stern test,” said 44-year-old Rose.” I think if you look at the overall leaderboard, not many low scores out there. A lot of quality shots, and delighted the way I played.”
The two-time runner-up here averaged just under 300 yards on his drives, which is in line with his last few Masters but far away from his peak years from 2016, when his Augusta National distance numbers generally hovered in the high 320s. Rose has remained relevant through a strict fitness regimen and continued to flash brilliance in between major struggles. He bounced back from last year’s missed cut here to finish T6 in the PGA at Valhalla and second at Troon to Xander Schauffele. And he’s still riding the high of his huge role in Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup win.
“I think those couple weeks for me, and even the Ryder Cup in Rome in '23, they were big motivating weeks where I thought the hard work is still worth it, still believe I can shake it with the best.”
On Thursday he took just 25 putts while hitting 14 of 18 greens and 9 of 14 fairways.
Rose’s record at Augusta National includes two runner-up finishes, six top 10’s, 16 cuts made in 19 starts, and a career 71.90 scoring average. His opening 65 ties his low round here and was on the cusp of joining the great first-day scores in tournament history until an 18th-hole bogey. Four players have opened with a lower number: Greg Norman’s 63 in 1996, Jordan Spieth’s 64 in 2015, Mike Donald’s 64 in 1990, and Lloyd Mangrum’s 64 in 1940.
With last year’s two top finishers—Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg—just three back, Rose will have his work cut out to become the oldest Masters Champion since 41-year-old Mark O’Meara in 1998.
“I played a lot of golf here at Augusta National. So to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me.”
15th Hole All Over Again
The 13th hole played tougher statistically and yielded the same number of eagles. But as it did last year, the 550-yard 15th made a mess of several scorecards and had players questioning its design soundness following the benign opening day.
Featuring a green re-grassed with new turf as part of a regular agronomic program, the raised and shallow green is second only to the seventh in terms of limited depth at 24 paces from front to back, with the front two paces essentially a guaranteed donation to the fronting pond.
So with some “new green” firmness and the overall precariousness of the falloffs of three sides, several players missing long threw away good rounds.
Just three groups after Patrick Cantlay arrived one-under-par and twice pitched into the lake after going over the green in two, Rory McIlroy came to the 15th four-under-par and bogey-free. A 294-yard drive left him 241, and he sailed just long, facing a 25-yard pitch. From the 16th tee grandstand, it was apparent the moment his pitch landed on the green that he’d carried it too far and had not clipped the sand wedge with much or any backspin. His Taylormade finished in the water.
McIlroy boldly chose to go over to the drop area and pitch back over the pond, bringing the precarious front slope into play from a different angle. Unlike Cantlay, who made his eight by dropping from his original spot, McIlroy was able to pitch safely on and two-putt. But all momentum was halted as he walked off the green, looking like he’d taken an upper cut. He limped home with another unforced error at 17, where a second double bogey ended his round one with a 72.
Given his tendency to start slow and close late at Augusta National, hope is not lost. However, only one player has made two double bogeys in a round and gone on to win: Craig Stadler in 1982’s first round.
While McIlroy did not speak afterwards, his 2023 Ryder Cup teammate Tyrrell Hatton did.