Justin Rose made a mockery of treacherous conditions to card a remarkable 65 and claim a four-shot lead on the opening day of the 85th Masters.
His playing partner Shane Lowry carded an impressive 71 – one of only a dozen players under par as Augusta National bared its teeth. Rory McIlroy was one victim, carding a 76 and hitting his father with a ball during a tough opening round.
While the majority of the field struggled with greens described as “like glass” by 1991 winner Ian Woosnam and “pretty crispy” by former Open champion Henrik Stenson, Rose overcame a slow start with a sensational burst of scoring at Augusta National.
After playing his first seven holes in two over par, the Olympic gold medallist covered the next 10 in nine under thanks to an eagle on the eighth and birdies on the ninth, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th.
That ensured Rose, who lost out in a play-off to Sergio Garcia in 2017, ended the first round in the lead for the fourth time in his career, matching the tournament record set by six-time champion Jack Nicklaus.
Lowry rolled in a tricky 17-foot birdie putt on 18 to bring himself back under par. That was the fifth birdie of a round that also featured two bogeys, a double bogey and an unfortunate chip shot that rolled all the way across the 15th green and into the water. 
The Open champion will have seen what the course has in store for next three days and he had front row seat for a deconstruction of back nine by Rose. He’ll play with the leader and Matt Kuchar again tomorrow, teeing off at 2.36pm Irish time.
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“I guess the good news is I don’t know what happened, that’s often when you play your best golf and get into the nice rhythm or flow,” Rose said.
“I didn’t panic being two over through seven. I knew this was a day not to play yourself out of the tournament; the course had a lot of teeth to it.
“The pins were relatively fair so good golf shots could be rewarded and to be nine under for my last 11, you can never quite see that coming here at Augusta National.”
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman were the only other players to break 70 with rounds of 69, and 2018 champion Patrick Reed is part of a four-strong group on two under.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson (above), who made just four bogeys in 72 holes in November, carded three in his first 16 and then made a double bogey on the 18th as he returned a 74.
“Two over is not a terrible score today,” Johnson said hours before Rose’s heroics.
“I feel like I am still right in it, just need to shoot a good score tomorrow. I would have liked to have finished a little better but the course was playing tough.”
Johnson’s in-form playing partner Lee Westwood struggled to a 78 while McIlroy, who needs to win the Masters to complete the career grand slam, hit his father with a wayward approach to the seventh and eventually signed for a 76.
Spain’s Jon Rahm, who only arrived in Augusta on Wednesday after his wife Kelley gave birth to their first child at the weekend, carded a level-par 72 after dropping a shot on the last.
Of the late finishers, Bryson DeChambeau carded a 76 as he failed to click with his driver or irons, Justin Thomas’s 73 failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations, while Jordan Spieth brought lots of his good form with him, as well as some of his errant driving, which all combined for a 71.
Woosnam, who marked the 30th anniversary of his victory with a highly-creditable 76 despite a pulled groin muscle, admitted he was taken aback by the firmness of the greens after not playing a practice round on Wednesday.
“I didn’t play yesterday, I just did some chipping and putting and hit a few balls and I went on that first green and I thought, ‘What’s happened here?'” the 63-year-old former Ryder Cup captain said.
“It was just like – it looked like glass. If it dries out this afternoon, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them have to put some water on the greens. This is about as fast as I’ve seen it.”
Sandy Lyle’s record 37th consecutive appearance in the Masters had earlier become one to forget for the two-time major winner.
Lyle, who became the first British player to claim a green jacket in 1988, made an excellent start with a birdie on the second, but he bogeyed the next and then took seven on the fourth after thinning a bunker shot over the green.
Further shots went on the fifth and sixth and although he did birdie the eighth, Lyle eventually signed for a nine-over-par 81.
The 63-year-old had shared the record for most consecutive appearances by a non-American with South African Gary Player, the three-time champion who started every tournament from 1974 to 2009. Arnold Palmer holds the overall record of 50 from 1955-2004.
Tommy Fleetwood hailed a “very special” moment after making a hole-in-one on the par-three 16th on his way to an opening 74.
“It was a lovely looking shot,” Fleetwood said. “It was in between clubs. I was sort of verging on a smooth eight, then I said hard nine. That kind of fit the shot a bit more.
“Hit it, slight pull. It wasn’t going straight at the pin, but it was still a great shot, and a couple of bounces and in.
“It’s really nice to have one at Masters. I think that’s two in two competitive weeks as well. I’m racking them up all of a sudden quickly. I’ll try to keep it going.
“It’s very special. Doing it at a major is great, doing it competitively is great, but at Augusta is probably just another edge.”