Masters 2007

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD:
(US unless stated)
-3 Justin Rose (Eng), Brett Wetterich
-2 David Howell (Eng), David Toms
-1 Tim Clark (SA), Vaughn Taylor, Zach Johnson, Rich Beem, JJ Henry
Level Davis Love III, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Bart Bryant, Tim Herron, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)

By Matt Slater

Rose has been desperate to get back to Augusta, a course he loves

Justin Rose carded a superb three-under 69 to claim a share of the first-round lead at the 71st Masters.

The 26-year-old Englishman, who putted only 20 times, posted the only bogey-free round on a testing day.

He was later joined out in front by US Ryder Cup player Brett Wetterich, who mixed five birdies with two bogeys.

And on a great day for English golf, David Howell is only a shot behind after a two-under 70, but US favourite Tiger Woods is four shots adrift.

Interview: Justin Rose

Interview: David Howell

Howell's round included a wonderful eagle at the long 15th.

606: DEBATE Your thoughts on the Masters

"I'm delighted - I didn't come in with an awful lot of confidence and was a little nervy wondering how the day was going to go," said Howell, who has not had a top-20 finish all season.

American veteran David Toms, playing in the final group, matched Howell's score thanks to a typically composed back nine.

Those two are one shot better off than South Africa's Tim Clark, the runner-up last year, and an American quartet of Augusta native Vaughn Taylor, his Ryder Cup team-mates Zach Johnson and JJ Henry and 2002 USPGA champion Rich Beem.

They looked almost certain to be joined by Woods as the world number one appeared to be moving effortlessly into his customary position high up on a major leaderboard.

The reason I played so well was my short game, my touch was amazing Justin Rose

But the 31-year-old American made two bad drives at the last two holes and failed to pull of his usual escape trick. His bogey-bogey finish left him on one over, four off the lead and in a foul mood.

Alongside Woods, who remains the hot favourite for a 13th major victory, are five players who include 2000 champion Vijay Singh and another young English talent, world number 11 Luke Donald.

Between them and the group on one under are five men on level par - European number one Henrik Stenson and Jeev Milkha Singh, the first Indian to play in the Masters, should be delighted to count themselves among them.

In fact, all those already mentioned should be delighted with their performances on a day of high scores at Augusta National. The 7,445-yard challenge was made even tougher than usual by the hard-running fairways, firm greens and swirling winds.

Among those to struggle were defending champion Phil Mickelson, who matched his worst ever round at Augusta with a four-over 76.

Wetterich gives it a mighty whack and has been playing well all year

At least he, however, fought back from a poor start with a strong finish. Ernie Els, twice runner-up here, carded a 78, English hopes Paul Casey and Lee Westwood slumped to 79s and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke could only manage an 83 - the same score as the 71-year-old Gary Player.

And two-time champion Seve Ballesteros, making his first appearance at Augusta for four years, zig-zagged his way around for a 14-over 86.

The average score was 76.2, over four shots over par - British trio Bradley Dredge, Kenneth Ferrie and Ian Poulter and leading lights like Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy should all feel much better now about their 75s.

All of which puts into context Rose's impressive return to Augusta. The US-based youngster was making his first appearance in the season's first major since 2004, when he led at the halfway stage before crashing to a third-round 81.

He has struggled with a back injury of late but looked entirely comfortable on the undulating Georgia course as he played some superb golf, particularly on and around the greens.

Rose, whose best performance in a major remains his memorable fourth place as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 Open, picked up shots on the 3rd, 5th and 14th.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of his round were the four successful up-and-downs he pulled off from the 15th, the last of them from a greenside bunker at 18.

"The reason I played so well was my short game, my touch was amazing," said Rose, whose 20 putts set a new Masters record.

Woods was not at his best while Casey will be very disappointed

"I knew I was playing well and had had a decent start to the season, but the competitive edge was the one area I was not sure about having had six weeks off (with his back injury).

"But I had plenty of energy and that kept me calm and fresh.

"It's exciting to go bogey-free on any course on any day, but to do it at Augusta, when the scoring is pretty high, makes me very happy, that's for sure."

The powerful Wetterich, who is making his Masters debut this week, was runner-up to Woods in the WGC-CA Championship only two weeks ago.

"That was a big thing for me, playing with Tiger on the Sunday, and I thought I did pretty well," the 33-year-old said.

"Teeing off today I felt the nerves a little bit, but I settled down and got over the hump."

The bad news for Wetterich - and Rose, Howell, Toms and all the other fast starters - is that he has to get over that hump three more times if he is to wriggle into a Green Jacket on Sunday evening.

And with Woods only four off the lead despite giving shots away down the stretch and playing well within himself prior to that, that hump is not going to get any smaller.