Justin Rose holds lead after thrilling first round of the Masters

(CNN) — The 89th playing of the Masters got off to a blazing start at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, with Englishman Justin Rose ending the day atop of the leaderboard.

The first major of the year got started with a ceremonial tee shot from Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson. After that, 95 players began the quest for the iconic green jacket.

The 44-year-old Rose put himself in strong position to win his second career major, after posting a career-low 7-under 65 opening round, his fifth time leading the tournament after the first round.

Rose, who sits three shots ahead of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Åberg, and Corey Conners, had previous success in Augusta, finishing in second in 2015 and 2017.

Despite never winning the prized tournament, Rose’s confidence has never wavered in his ability to one day get there.

“I feel like I’ve played well enough to win this tournament,” Rose said after the round. “I just feel like I don’t have the jacket to prove it. … I’ve obviously played, I’ve played a lot of good rounds of golf here. Got a lot of crystal, which is obviously always nice.

“But yeah, you know, ultimately, you want to be last man standing on Sunday, and I was a shot shy – I guess Sergio and I in 2017, that was a real 50/50. That could have gone any which way down the stretch. A little bit of Lady Luck here and there is always the difference here at times.

“But I’ve had my luck on occasion and been a champion. But you’ve got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and obviously the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don’t shy away from it.”

Scheffler, a two-time Masters champion, came into the tournament the betting favorite and he certainly looked the part.

The 28-year-old Scheffler coasted to a bogey-free 68 to sit within striking distance of the lead ahead Friday’s second round.

Scheffler, who will be hoping to join an exclusive club by winning a third Masters title and has the chance to be the first player to defend his green jacket since Tiger Woods in 2002, said he felt “pretty good” about his four-under par score.

“I had a feeling the golf course was going to get pretty firm,” Scheffler said. “The areas to hit your irons out here are pretty small and they get even smaller when the greens are firm, so there’s definitely some challenge to the golf course today, and I’m sure that’ll continue as the week goes on.”

Rose will tee off at 8:52 a.m. ET while Scheffler get going at 1:23 p.m. ET.

McIlroy struggles towards the end

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy quickly went from looking like a true contender for his maiden green jacket to possibly missing the cut.

Through the first 14 holes, the 35-year-old blazed out to a 4-under par, bogey-free round.

That was until the last couple holes.

McIlroy, who has won twice this season on the PGA Tour including at The Players Championship, took a pair of double bogeys late and settled for a 72 which saw him fall from second place down to 27th on the leaderboard.

The Northern Irishman declined to speak to reporters following the round.

In his pursuit for a career grand slam, McIlroy will look to rebound on Friday with a 9:58 a.m. ET tee time.

A round to forget for Dunlap and Ballester

It was a nightmare round for two youngsters - American Nick Dunlap and highly-rated Spanish amateur Jose Luis Ballester.

The 21-year-old Dunlap, playing in his second career Masters, shot a historic opening round 18-over 90 to find himself in last place on the leaderboard.

Dunlap, a two-time winner of the PGA Tour, became the first player under 38 years old to fail to break 90 at the Masters.

It’s the worst score at the Masters since Ben Crenshaw’s 91 back in 2015.

Dunlap did not speak to reporters after the round.

Life comes at your fast, especially when you are young.

For the 21-year-old, Arizona State University senior Ballester, it came at the expense of stuff beyond his actual play.

Last year’s US Amateur winner Ballester, who played alongside Scheffler and Justin Thomas on Thursday, admitted to going to the bathroom at Rae’s Creek at Augusta National.

Ballester said he forgot there were bathrooms near the 13th hole tee box and relieved himself in the creek much to the delight of spectators.

“Didn’t really know where to go, and since (Justin Thomas) had an issue on the green, I’m like, I’m just going to sneak here in the river and probably people would not see me that much, and then they clapped for me,” Ballester said.

“Probably one of the claps that I really got today real loud, so that was kind of funny.”

Ballester added that he had no regrets.

“They saw me. It was not embarrassing at all for me. If I had to do it again, I would do it again,” Ballester said.

Dunlap will tee off at 12:50 p.m. ET while Ballester is at 1:23 p.m. ET.

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