Justin Rose leads day 1 of the Masters Tournament at 7 under par

The 2025 Masters Tournament got off to a great start with first place at 7 under par and a three-way tie for second.

Justin Rose finished the day with the 7 under par score of 65. Rose, who is seeking his first green jacket, said he was happy to get off to a great start in the Tournament. 

“The first few holes everything was going exactly where I was looking and the first hole, which is one of the trickier holes on the golf course, to knock in a nice 25-footer downhill from right to left, exactly what you need to settle yourself into the Masters,” Rose said. “(Holes) 2 and 3 are birdie opportunities. To be three under through 3, kind of really got me on the front foot and felt like I was playing great golf.”

Rose said he was in his own bubble and focused on his game throughout the day but was aware of where he fell on the tournament due to not only seeing his name on the leaderboard, but the crowd as well. 

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“The crowd around you, you know you’re playing well, you get your energy from them as well,” Rose said. “There was a nice special little run on 8,9 and 10 to six under. That’s when the day felt a bit different. That’s when I felt like I was doing something potentially on the special side. Then you’ve got Amen Corner to come, you’re never really ahead of yourself until you’re through 12 anyway. But good pars at 11 and 12. I felt like there was an opportunity to post a little good score.”

Despite ending the round with a bogey on hole 18, Rose said he was very happy with how the day turned out.

“I’ve played a lot of golf here at Augusta National, so to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me today,” Rose said.

Behind Rose was a three-way tie for second at 4 under par score of 68 between two-time and reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Ludvig Åberg. 

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Scheffler finished with a bogey free round and said that because he was recovering from an injury, he was able to get in more reps and therefore felt a little more prepared than with other tournaments. 

“I felt pretty good,” Scheffler said. “Anytime you can keep a card clean out here is a really good thing. I struggled for what felt like two pars today, I had to make two really good up and down, but other than that the golf course was in front of me most of the day. Kept the ball in play and did a lot of good things out there.”

For Conners, even though he wasn’t happy with his iron play, he was happy with how he ended the round. 

“You always feel good coming off the course when you post a good number,” Conners said. “Happy with the way I battled hard on some of the holes I was a little bit out of position.”

Conners added that he loves playing at the Augusta National Golf Club and feels that the course plays well with his strengths. 

Åberg said that having experience at the Augusta National Golf Club is very beneficial. 

“I feel like we played a very disciplined round of golf today,” Åberg said. “When you execute the shots it makes it a whole lot easier, obviously. But felt like we managed some of the shots where were in-between clubs in the right way and didn’t try to force anything. Laid up on a couple of par 5s where I could’ve probably gone for it if I was aggressive. I was proud of the way I finished and looking forward to tomorrow.”

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Honorary starters

The tournament began with honorary starters six-time Masters Champion Jack Nicklaus, three-time Masters Champion Gary Player and two-time Masters Champion Gary Player all teeing off on hole No. 1.

During a press conference after they teed off, all three were asked what their thoughts were as they walked up to the tee box and right before they hit the ball.

“I walk up, make sure I don’t trip,” Nicklaus said. “Second one is make sure I get the tee in the ground without falling over. And the third one is just don’t kill anybody. Don’t laugh too much about that, that’s actually the thoughts I have. From that point on I just stand up and try to make as short of a swing as I can make, I didn’t have to work on that. make sure I make contact and hit it somewhere that won’t hurt somebody.”

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Watson agreed with Nicklaus.

“Get it airborne, get it in the air,” Watson said. “…that is the largest fairway, the widest fairway, so if you miss that fairway, you haven’t had a very good shot. I watch both Gary and Jack, they put it on the left side and had a good angle into the green. I had a decent drive out there, it was fun. Beautiful morning. It was great to see the people out there, given the honors to these two players here, it was just a wonderful experience and it’s a great honor for.”

Player agreed with what Watson said about the honor of teeing off with two other legendary golfers. 

“You walk out there and the enthusiasm walking through that first tee experience is, I think the word that comes to my mind, I’m standing here for the 67th time, I think the word is gratitude,” Player said.

Round 2 information

Tee times for round 2, which is cut day, can be found at masters.com. The lowest 50 scores plus ties will head into the weekend rounds. Coverage of the second round will be broadcast on ESPN on Thursday and Friday from 3-7:30 p.m., along with on the Masters app and masters.com.