By Rahul Banerji
Justin Rose stunned the Masters field with an opening 7-under par 65 even as Hideki Matsuyama brought in a 3-under 69 to share second place at Augusta National on Thursday.
The Japanese star was inspired by the success of teenaged compatriot, Tsubasa Kajitani who won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur four days earlier even as Rose sent out a clear early warning.
The Rio Olympic champion was two over after seven holes but went on a tear thereafter.
The turnaround began for the 40-year-old Englishman with an eagle three on eight and seven birdies thereafter, six of which came in a back nine of just 30 strokes.
By the close, he was four clear of Matsuyama and Brian Harman in what is already being called one of the most fiery opening rounds at the Masters.
“I didn’t hit the panic button,” Rose, playing his 15th Masters was quoted as saying on the tournament website.
“I thought if I could get myself back around even par that would be a good day’s work.”
Tough scoring
Only the top three on the day came in under 70, an indication that the firm and fast greens were extracting a price from the quality field.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson was in a tie for 32nd place on 2-over 74 alongside Brooks Koepka and 20 othrs on what has been projected as the cut line.
Outside that zone are the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.
Matsuyama,29, sank an eagle, two birdies and a bogey at Augusta National Golf Club on the opening day, pgatour.com said.
Korea’s Si Woo Kim carded a 71 after dropping shots late in his round to share eighth place while 2020 joint runner-up Sungjae Im had a 77 that included a quadruple bogey..
Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, tied seventh last year, came home in 79.
Making his 10th successive Masters appearance, Matsuyama cashed in on the par-5s, making birdies on three of them.
He also sank an eagle on the eighth from 30 feet. A three-putt bogey on 17 was his only blemish on a day the scoring average was 74.52.
Matsuyama said he was inspired by the 17-year-old Kajitani’s success last weekend.
“What she did was fantastic. I wish I could have seen it. I was playing down in Texas, so I wasn’t able to see her play, but hat’s off to her.
Finding inspiration
“Hopefully, I can follow in her footsteps and make Japan proud,” said Matsuyama.
“The greens were firm and fast. It was very important to hit your second shot on the proper side of the pin, and I was able to do that.”
A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, Matsuyama has not won since 2017 and he is hoping to become the first Asian winner at the 85th edition of the Masters.
“It’s my 10th year, but I’ve never seen the greens so firm and fast. So it was like a new course for me today, and I was fortunate to get it around well,” said Matsuyama.
It was also Matsuyama’s eighth consecutive par-or-better score at the Masters.
Jordan Speith, 2015 Masters champion and winner in Texas last week, was in T8 and needed to rally from a triple-bogey 7 on the ninth hole for a 1-under 71.
Tommy Fleetwood (2-over 74, T30) aced the par-3 16th hole with a 9-iron from 170 yards, his first hole-in-one in an individual stroke-play event on Tour.
Meanwhile, here’s a great way to follow all the action at Augusta National,
The tournament has set up an excellent app (The Masters Golf Tournament) which provides endless information including real-time updates player and shot tracker, stats, news and all.
Also read: Matsuyama, DJ handle tough stuff to lead BMW Championship
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