Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA — April 8, 2021
After last year’s delay to November, it is great to have The Masters back in its original April time frame. The beauty of the course is so much a part of the tradition of professional golf’s greatest tournament, it seemed out of place in the fall.
What is out of place after today’s opening round is the names at the top of the leader board. No Dustin Johnson, no Justin Thomas, no Jordan Spieth, no Brooks Koepka. Justin Rose leads the 85th Masters’ tournament after posting a 7 under par score of 65. Rose leads the field by 4 strokes with a tremendous run over the closing 10 holes of his round.
10 Holes of Magic
After carding a bogey on the 1st hole, Rose made 5 pars in a row, then suffered another bogey on the Par-4, 7th. His round turned in the right direction with an eagle on the Par-5, 8th hole brought him back to even par. Back-to-back birdies on 9 & 10 and 12 & 13 were bracketed by pars on 11 & 14.
Rose separated himself from everyone else with birdies on 15, 16 & 17 to reach his 7 under par total. Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama are his closest pursuers 4 strokes back at 3 under.
Four golfers, Will Zalatoris, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Webb Simpson, and Patrick Reed are tied for 4th at 2 under.
The Favorites
Jordan Spieth, the winner of last week’s Texas Open, suffered a triple bogey on the 9th hole to go out at two strokes over par at 38. His return to the clubhouse added a birdie on the 10th and an eagle on the Par-5, 15th hole to finish at 1 under par. He trails Rose by 6 strokes.
Jon Rahm carded a bogey and a birdie on each nine to finish in a tie for 13th at even par. Three bogeys on the front nine were followed by two birdies on the backside and Justin Thomas sits at 1 over par for his 1st round.
Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, and Tony Finau are among a group of 22 golfers tied for 30th place at 2 over. Bryson DeChambeau struggled through an opening nine of 4 over par, unable to pick up any ground on the back nine he sits 11 strokes out of the lead. Former Champion, Larry Mize, is last on the scoreboard at 84 a one-day total of 12 over par.
Hole-in-One
Tommy Fleetwood provided the highlight of the day with his hole-in-one on the Par-3, 16th.
The Complete Leaderboard
| Rank | Name | Round 1 | To Par |
| 1 | Justin Rose | 65 | -7 |
| 2t | Brian Harman | 69 | -3 |
| 2t | Hideki Matsuyama | 69 | -3 |
| 4t | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 70 | -2 |
| 4t | Patrick Reed | 70 | -2 |
| 4t | Webb Simpson | 70 | -2 |
| 4t | Will Zalatoris | 70 | -2 |
| 8t | Tyrrell Hatton | 71 | -1 |
| 8t | Si Woo Kim | 71 | -1 |
| 8t | Jason Kokrak | 71 | -1 |
| 8t | Shane Lowry | 71 | -1 |
| 8t | Jordan Spieth | 71 | E |
| 13t | Cameron Champ | 72 | E |
| 13t | Mackenzie Hughes | 72 | E |
| 13t | Kevin Kisner | 72 | E |
| 13t | Marc Leishman | 72 | E |
| 13t | Jon Rahm | 72 | E |
| 13t | Xander Schauffele | 72 | E |
| 13t | Michael Thompson | 72 | E |
| 20t | Paul Casey | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Corey Conners | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Viktor Hovland | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Collin Morikawa | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Scottie Scheffler | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Henrik Stenson | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Hudson Swafford | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Justin Thomas | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Brendon Todd | 73 | +1 |
| 20t | Gary Woodland | 73 | +1 |
| 30t | Stewart Cink | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Harris English | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Tony Finau | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Matthew Fitzpatrick | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Tommy Fleetwood | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Max Homa | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Dustin Johnson | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Matt Jones | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Brooks Koepka | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Martin Laird | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Bernhard Langer | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Robert MacIntyre | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Francesco Molinari | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Sebastian Munoz | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Ryan Palmer | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Ian Poulter | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Charl Schwartzel | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Adam Scott | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Cameron Smith | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Matt Wallace | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Bubba Watson | 74 | +2 |
| 30t | Bernd Wiesberger | 74 | +2 |
| 52t | Abraham Ancer | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Daniel Berger | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Phil Mickelson | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Kevin Na | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Joaquin Niemann | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Jose Maria Olazabal | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Robert Streb | 75 | +3 |
| 52t | Jimmy Walker | 75 | +3 |
| 60t | Bryson DeChambeau | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Dylan Frittelli | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Sergio Garcia | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Lanto Griffin | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Jim Herman | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Billy Horschel | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Rory McIlroy | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Louis Oosthuizen | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Charles Osborne | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Danny Willett | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Matthew Wolff | 76 | +4 |
| 60t | Ian Woosnam | 76 | +4 |
| 72t | Jason Day | 77 | +5 |
| 72t | Sungjae Im | 77 | +5 |
| 72t | Zach Johnson | 77 | +5 |
| 75t | Brian Gay | 78 | +6 |
| 75t | Matt Kuchar | 78 | +6 |
| 75t | Victor Perez | 78 | +6 |
| 75t | Mike Weir | 78 | +6 |
| 75t | Lee Westwood | 78 | +6 |
| 80t | Patrick Cantlay | 79 | +7 |
| 80t | Fred Couples | 79 | +7 |
| 80t | C.T. Pan | 79 | +7 |
| 80t | Vijay Singh | 79 | +7 |
| 84 | Tyler Strafaci | 80 | +8 |
| 85 | Sandy Lyle | 81 | +9 |
| 86t | Joe Long | 82 | +10 |
| 86t | Carlos Ortiz | 82 | +10 |
| 88 | Larry Mize | 84 | +12 |
