Rose, Immelman lead at Augusta

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2008 US Masters | Round One | 11 Apr 2008

Justin Rose made it three from three in terms of leading after the first round of the Masters when his opening round of 68 has him at the top of the leaderboard alongside South African Trevor Immelman.

Rose led in 2004 after 18, then 36 holes, before self destructing in round three to eventually finish 22nd and in 2007 he shared the lead after round one before eventually finishing a very impressive 5th. Rose has yet to win on the PGA Tour but he keeps getting closer and with the benefit of two years of being in contention in Augusta it will be of much interest to see how he goes on with it in 2008. Rose has not played much this season but he has made steady progress in recent weeks and has a great chance to improve on his previous efforts at Augusta National.

After a shaky start to his round today, Rose quickly turned things around with four consecutive birdies to finish his front nine, added further birdies at the 12th and 13th to move to four under and then made a very good up and down par save from the bunker at the last to finish at four under 68.

Immelman too has a best of 5th at Augusta, which came in 2005 after a third round of 65 put in contention going into round four. Immelman first played this event in 1999 after qualifying as the 1998 US Public Links Champion. So he has plenty of experience in the event but his form in 2008 has not been good due mainly to health issues, which he now appears to have overcome. A benign tumour was removed from the 28 year old’s back earlier this year, which makes his performance today even more special.

Brandt Snedeker, in just his second visit to Augusta and his first as a professional, recorded a first round of 69 despite a final hole bogey and in just his second season as a professional after being named the rookie of the year on the PGA Tour in 2007, things are pretty good for the 27 year old.

Masters debutant Brian Bateman has made a dream start at Augusta National. The Buick Open winner in 2007 recorded six birdies in his first competitive round at The Masters including one at the last to finish with 69 and like Bateman is one shot out of the lead.

Late in the day Bateman and Snedeker would be joined by Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk as two of the latest starters on day one battled to finish before darkness. Westwood actually got to 4 under par but he and Furyk were under pressure to get their rounds finished. Westwood bogeyed the 17th when he missed a par saving 6 foot putt and finished with 69 while Furyk, who finished in the group ahead of him, also bogeyed the last to finish with 70.

The best of the Australians, perhaps surprisingly given his record at August National, is Peter Lonard who was out in one of the first few groups of the day and produced by far his best round at Augusta when he opened with a round of 71 to be at one under and in 11th position.

Lonard’s previous best round in his four missed cuts at Augusta was 74 so this represents quite a turnaround especially given that Lonard missed the cut last week in Houston. He did say earlier in the week however that the result at the Houston Open was not exactly a reflection on how he played and so his performance this week especially given his recent runner up placing in New Orleans, is perhaps not the surprise it seems on paper.

“The more I play here the more I think it is as much about where you miss the shot rather than the good shots you hit,” said Lonard after his round. “You have just got to miss the greens in the right spots or you have no chance.” Lonard’s two bogies were three putts from long range.

The next best of the Australians was Robert Allenby who is at even par while Nick O’Hern is the next best at 2 over. The disappointments amongst the Australians were Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott, although even at 3 over 75 they have not yet completely extinguished their chances.

In a post-round interview, Ogilvy was clearly disappointed with his round today.

“It’s not a one round tournament. It’s not the end of the world, it just makes it harder. I had more shots than I wanted to have. What can I say, I didn’t have any fun, I shot 3-over. I just putted bad. I didn’t make any birdies and I made some mistakes out there I didn’t want to play this bad but I did…today’s round hurts.”

The cut looks like it will fall at around 5 over although the conditions tomorrow may alter that by a shot or two.