Rose rises first to take early plaudits with 67

At a former nursery in the "Garden City" Justin Rose tip-toed through the azaleas yesterday en route to the leader board in the first round of the Masters. England's Rose, in only his second appearance at Augusta National, fashioned a 67 which was four shots better than his previous best score here.

Rose has not made such an impression in stellar company since his sensational finish in the Open at Royal Birkdale in 1998 when, as an teenaged amateur, he finished fourth. No sooner had he signed his card than he turned professional, joined the European tour and missed the cut in 21 successive tournaments, which was some kind of a particularly morbid record.

Since then Rose has won four tournaments. "What I've been through has probably helped me in getting to the finishing line," he said. He made his debut here 12 months ago, finishing joint 39th when his best round was a 71. Yesterday, teeing off at 8.22am, he made a trailblazing start with a birdie three at the first and a birdie four at the second. "It was a dream start and I'm delighted," Rose said. "I got into the tournament from the word go. I hit a perfect tee shot straight down the middle at the first and from that moment I felt comfortable."

On the front nine Rose managed to birdie-putt every hole. He has been in America for eight weeks, working with his coach, David Ledbetter, in Florida and part of the regime was practising his putting while standing on one leg. It seemed to pay dividends yesterday as he holed a 30-footer at the first and from 15 feet at the ninth, which earned him another birdie as he went to the turn in 33. On the back nine his driving was far from perfect and at the 10th he got out of jail after his approach missed the green on the left and hit a tree. Rose chipped to eight feet past the hole and made the putt to save par.

At the 11th, the beginning of Amen Corner, he three-putted from 12 feet to drop his first shot of the day, sending his first putt five feet past the hole. "I was pretty annoyed about that," Rose said. "I didn't give the green enough respect. The thing is, I didn't let it get to me." At the Golden Bell, the infamous par three at the 12th hole, Rose hit a marvellous shot to within six feet but missed the putt.

Earlier, he had played the short sixth hole in equally fine style and there he missed a five-footer. One of his playing partners, America's Chris DiMarco, hit one of the purest golf shots in Augusta National's history and his reward was a hole in one. His five-iron shot never wavered from the flag. That ace put DiMarco at two under par alongside Rose, but the Briton pulled clear over the closing holes.

Despite his five at the 11th, he again rose to the occasion, getting up and down from a bunker by the 13th green for a birdie four. Rose finished as he had started, with two more birdies at the 17th and 18th where he hit wonderful approach shots.

A year ago, when Rose made his debut here, it barely stopped raining. "That was a shame," he said, "and it was a bit of a slog through the mud." This week he had enjoyed three practice runs in the sunshine, although yesterday morning it was overcast and several showers extracted some of the sting from the slick greens. "When I saw the draw I was happy to go out early," Rose said. "Conditions were almost perfect and it was one of the best rounds I've ever played. It's a magical place. I was only 10 or 11 when I watched Nick Faldo on television in that amazing last round with Greg Norman. I was glued to the telly and I was at a very impressionable age."

Before Rose completed his tour de force, the leader in the clubhouse had been the former champion Sandy Lyle. Lyle shot a level-par 72. "It could have been 74 or 70," Lyle said. He was first off at 8am with two partners, Tommy Aaron and Charles Coody, who made him look almost young. "I couldn't believe it," Lyle said. "It was the same as last year. I look at it as a plus. Knocking the ball 50 yards past my partner's makes me look like Tiger Woods." Lyle, who is 46, added: "Jack Nicklaus won here at 46 so it's a good age."

The younger generation from Europe made a sartorial statement. Ian Poulter was a vision in pink. Even his golf shoes had pink stripes. However, the pink flamingo was overshadowed by the Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, who sported an outrageous pair of tangerine-striped trousers. Although he had the appearance of a stick of rock, Clarke, like Rose, birdied the first then reeled off nine successive pars to remain on the leaderboard.

Clarke had a two-under-par 70, a stroke in front of Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Phillip Price while Paul Lawrie, the former Open Champion, and Gary Wolstenholme, the amateur champion, both had 77s.

Woods and Faldo, who have won the Masters three times each, have had much better days here. Tiger hooked a wild approach shot at the fifth, the ball bouncing into the rhododendron bushes. He could only hack out weakly for a double-bogey six. He had another six at the par-five eighth and went to the turn in 40, four over, at which point play was suspended because of thunder.

Faldo, who had a 76, said: "I didn't do anything right. It was a bit of a guessing game. Justin Rose's score was very good.'' And as the storm clouds gathered over Augusta National, Rose's 67, standing in splendid isolation at the top of the leaderboard, was looking better by the minute.

When play resumed after a two-hour break Woods struggled to make up ground. The last time the world No 1 shot 40 over the front nine was in 1997 when, of course, he went on to win by a landslide. Not this time. He could only make par on the early holes of the back nine as Ernie Els and Nick Price moved on to the leaderboard at two under.