The 2025 Masters is ongoing, and after the eventful first 18 holes, the top packed leaderboard has three former winners, including Scotty Schaeffler, looking for a third green jacket in four years.
As the page changes to Friday, here’s what we’re paying attention to.
Can Justin Rose hold the lead?
The English golfer has experienced this kind of start before, but he hopes for another ending Sunday.
It was Rose’s fifth time he has taken a first-round lead at the Masters, and it has the most history of the tournament. This is the eighth time he has led or co-led in the Augusta National Golf Club round.
“I feel like I played enough to win this tournament,” Rose said. “I feel like I don’t have a jacket to prove that. No, I feel like it’s a compliment. I played a lot of good rounds of golf here.
The 44-year-old Rose competed for himself if he played well in the final 54 holes. He couldn’t win in the previous four innings, which held the lead in the first round:
– In 2004, 23-year-old Rose took a two-stroke lead after both the first and second rounds. But then he fell apart on Saturday in a 9-over 81, including nine bogeys. This was the worst three-round score by the Masters’ 36-hole leader for over 25 years. He tied 11 strokes behind winner Phil Mickelson 22 times in two overs.
– Rose was tied up in 2007 with Brett Wettetteric in a first round lead alongside 3-year-old Brett Wettylatch. In the final 54 holes, Rose was over 7 years old in cold and windy conditions. He was hunting to the end, making birdies with Nos 14 and 16 in the final round before eventually following the winner Zach Johnson on a stroke. However, a double bogey on the 17th hole fell to Rose in the fifth in four overs.
– The following year, Rose and Trevor Immelman finished their first round on a 4-under leaderboard. Rose fell out of the fight after posting a 6-over 78 in the second round. He pitched into the water in front of the green before carding a triple bogey 8 in 15th place. Rose was over 11 in the final three rounds and finished 36th in the seventh.
– At the 2021 Masters, Rose was under nine in the final 11 holes of the first round. After the first round, Rose was the fourth time he led or co-led, tied up Masters Records’ Jack Nicklaus. Once again, Rose couldn’t do that over the weekend. He took a one-shot lead after the second round and followed Matsuyama in the fourth after the third. Rose finished his seventh solo with 5 under, five shots behind Matsuyama.
Will Rose be able to do that this year? He is a two-time runner-up at the Masters, losing to Jordans Piece in 2015 and to Sergio Garcia in 2017, so he knows what it takes to slide his green jacket on Sunday.
Rose is followed by many of the world’s greatest golfers, including Scotty Schaeffler (-4), Rudig Åberg (-3), and Bryson Deccanbeau (-3).
“Here, there’s a bit of luck here, and sometimes there’s always a difference,” Rose said. “But I was lucky at times and a champion, but I have to play golf to continue creating those opportunities. – Mark Schrabach
Does Rory McIlroy still have a chance?
It seemed that McIlroy had all the momentum in the world. After countless throws started at Augusta, the four major winners appeared to have broken the code. He hit a perfect drive on the par 5 15th on 14 holes at 4 under. His long iron shot landed on green and dripped down his back, leaving him with a tricky but easy tip.
However, as soon as McIlroy contacted him, he seemed to flinch. He was carrying the ball so far that when he began rolling past the pin, the crowd asked for the ball to sit down. It wasn’t, it dripped into the water. McIlroy went for a long, laborious walk across the bridge and into the drop zone, creating a double bogey. The momentum was gone.
“The green is new and a little stiffer than some others,” said Ludvig Aberg, one of McIlroy’s playing partners. “But obviously you’re playing with the fire when you’re messing around with that front, especially with the short pin. The tip from the long isn’t easy either.”
Another sloppy chip and 17 three-putt produced a second double bogey, turning a simple mistake into a disastrous finish. On the 14th, McIlroy was in ties with Schaeffler. Schaeffler shot a 4-under 68 in the morning waves. Suddenly, after 4 over on his final four holes, he was four shots behind Schaeffler, eight shots behind the leader, Rose.
McIlroy refused to speak to the media after his round and headed straight to range.
McIlroy had previously had a strong finish at Augusta, but the slow start was his Achilles heel and it was impossible to overcome. In his first round of his past seven times at the Masters, McIlroy broke only once. Additionally, 18 of the last 19 Masters winners were within four shots of the lead after round one. McIlroy was 14 and had four shots. He is now 8 years old.
If this is the year when McIlroy finally wears a green jacket, as many have expected, it requires monumental effort. Four major winners should start building the ground immediately on Friday morning. If there’s a silver lining in Thursday’s effort, then McIlroy drove the ball well and played steady golf, with the exception of 15 and 17. But as this course often shows, and as McIlroy knows, one of the important mistakes can be too big to overcome. -Paolo object
Which LIV player got a strong start in the first major of the year?
2023 Masters Champion John Larm had an even tougher round at Augusta National on Thursday, showing a lot of frustration with three over pars, while five other LIV golfers were in the top 11 after the round.
16 total players came in 11th place with one under par, including Cameron Smith, 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reid and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson. Bryson Dedanbeau and Tyrrell Hutton both shot 69 three-under rounds, tied to fifth place. Joaquín Niemann, who won three times this year, was evenly equal, reaching 27th place.
“It’s very difficult,” Hutton said. He appears to be a little pleased with the round. “You love being here and it’s very special, but you can always hit shots. Your head gets in. You need to hit the perfect shot.”
Hutton scored the best ever finish (T-9) in Augusta last year, reminding reporters on Thursday that he told reporters they needed to drive it better to improve on the course. On Thursday, Hutton hit 11 of the 14 fairways. The mission has been completed.
DeChambeau also hit 11 fairways in the first round, bringing together a strong round after last year’s best finish (T-4). However, after that, Deccanbeau was not completely satisfied with his performance, and no surprise to anyone. During the lead-up to this week’s tournament, no one hit during the tournament lead-up than he did.
“I want to guide that ship in the right direction. I feel like I have a favorable golf swing for now. It’s just not dialed as I want,” he said. “I need to work on that a little and be comfortable for tomorrow.”
Reid was happy with his swing on his side, but it was his putter that gave him a headache. He attacked everything except one fairway and missed five greens in regulation, but lost more than half of the strokes on the field with putters on each data golf.
“Ball strikes weren’t an issue,” Reid said. “The flat sticks are on vacation and need to show up in some way. They need to get on a flight and see me here.”
Despite the 75th round, Rahm seemed ready to snap the driver to the ninth hole and snapped the half, but said he was ready to charge on Friday.
“I’m confident,” Rahm said. “It’s a very difficult golf course. It’s going to be difficult. If you get off to a good start, you can post a round in the 60s (Friday) and the weekend could be a new story.” – Object
Who will do Friday?
Top 50 scores and tie made 36 holes cuts at the master (no 10 shot rule), and there were 62 golfers with two or more scores after 18 holes. Data Golf’s prediction model had the following predicted cut after the first round:
There are a few celebrities that need to be pasted on Fridays on weekends. Will Zaratoris (2 over), Keegan Bradley (2 over), Max Homa (2 over), Dustin Johnson (2 over), Patrick Cantray (2 over), Brooks Koepka (2 over), Phil Mickelson (3) over), Adam Scott (5 over) and Russell Henry (7 over).
Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, cut the 15 previous masters who missed the last weekend in 2009.
After struggling in the 6-over-78 round, Lucas Glover was not in the mood to speak on Thursday.
Asked to explain the course requirements, Glover stated: “The course was perfect.”
Asked to explain his round, he replied, “That’s terrible.”
Asked on Friday what he needed to do to flip the game, Glover said, “I’ll never do anything I did today.” – Schrabach
What’s the weather like on Friday?
Even after taking on about an inch of rain on Monday, which wiped out most of the day’s practice round, Augusta National’s Greens and Fairway were solid in the first round.
“It’s difficult, it’s difficult,” Brian Herman said. “The greens are very solid in some spots. It’s very difficult on that back nine. It’s difficult to look better.
“You have to hit the perfect shot to get good looks, and it’s just Augusta. It’s a bear. It’s for me that’s the hardest place we play all year round. I think that’s how mature it is. For me, with the back nine and the par 5 really doesn’t go.
Another round of showers and potentially thunderstorms are predicted overnight on Friday, with a cold front passing through Augusta. There is 80% rainfall and the shower is expected to close between 6am and 9am on Friday. It could rain about two-half to four-tenths of the time.
The forecast for the weekend is predicted to include high clear skies and temperatures from the 1970s to the 1970s.
“My fingers were raining,” said Tyrrell Hutton of England. He had a 3-under 69 card in the first round. “The course is in great shape. The greens are already pretty fast and pretty solid on Thursday. I think if the rain goes away, the score could get a bit worse. – Schrabach