Leaders exploit forgiving Augusta

AUGUSTA, GA. - For Justin Rose, playing the Masters is like getting married in Vegas -- a blast at the beginning, and reason to seek therapy a few days later.

After shooting a 68 on Thursday, Rose has held at least a share of the first-round lead at Augusta National three times since 2004, when he also shared the 36-hole lead.

To gain an edge in course knowledge, Rose, fellow Brit Ian Poulter and South African Trevor Immelman took a trip to Augusta a few Fridays ago. Thursday, the three weekend worriers were all among the top six, with Immelman tied for the lead with Rose and Poulter two shots back.

"Because of that trip, I felt like I wasn't chasing my tail trying to learn everything this week," Rose said. "I was itching to go from Monday afternoon."

A lot of golfers eagerly attacked Augusta National on Thursday. Fifty years ago, the legendary golf writer Herbert Warren Wind nicknamed a fateful trio of holes at Augusta National "Amen Corner," because of the reverence golfers felt for the beauty and difficulty of the par-4 11th, par-3 12th and par-5 13th hard by Rae's Creek.

Thursday, Amen Corner -- for once -- prompted hallelujahs and yielded birdies. On a beautiful day to start the Masters, the scoreboard bled as much red as Wall Street, as a surprising combination of players filled the top 10.

One stroke off the lead were Brian Bateman, Brandt Snedeker and Lee Westwood. The group two back included Poulter, who made a hole in one on 16. Wearing lime-green shoes that matched his pants, visor, belt, belt buckle and the stripes on his sweater, Poulter -- known for posing naked behind a golf bag on the cover of a magazine and aspiring to become No. 2 in the world behind Woods -- termed his round "flawless." Or was he talking about his wardrobe?

Defending champ Zach Johnson shot a 70 to tie for sixth with Poulter, Robert Karlsson, Jim Furyk and Stephen Ames. Last year, Johnson's 1-over-par total tied for the highest winning score in Masters history. Thursday, thanks to Hallelujah Corner, drying fairways, negligible winds and receptive greens, the players were able to attack the pins at the monstrous 11th, the tricky 12th and the inviting 13th.

In fact, Tiger Woods cost himself a place among the leaders when, after his second shot to the par-5 13th bounced over the green, he flubbed a chip. Instead of the eagle he expected when he saw the ball in the air, he scored a bogey. "The second shot was sweet," Woods said. "The high-drawing 4-iron, had to start the ball right of the creek, hooked it all the way in there, landed pin-high and skipped it over the back and left myself the hardest pitch you could possibly have on this golf course."

Woods made up for that with a chip-in eagle at 13, but this was a day for lower-ranked players shooting lower scores than the favorites. One morning threesome consisted of Poulter, whose comparison of himself with Woods was wrongly assumed to be an insult; amateur Trip Kuehne, who decided after losing a U.S. Amateur to Woods that he wasn't cut out for the pros; and Mark O'Meara, Woods' friend and neighbor from Isleworth, Fla.

O'Meara outplayed his buddy for a day, shooting a 71 by making three birdies on Amen Corner. Only a couple of poor chips kept him from shooting in the 60s. "Obviously, at 51 years of age, 1 under par, I played all right," O'Meara said.

The day started at 7:50 a.m. Eastern time, with Arnold Palmer hitting the ceremonial first shot (after putting away his cell phone, prompting a mock frown from Chairman Billy Payne) into a dense fog that would delay play for an hour, and joking, "I hit it out of sight."

The fog burned off, the sun emerged, and the day ended with the last group on the 18th green in the gloaming, and O'Meara relishing a surprisingly competitive round at the Masters.

"I just wish people at home could come and see this place," O'Meara said. "Because it is just unreal, the beauty that Augusta National holds."

The players tend to appreciate the azaleas even more when Augusta National's greens hold their shots.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. jsouhan@startribune.com