2026 Masters takeaways, Round 1: Justin Rose refuses to be shaken, Scottie Scheffler starts well enough

Many of the same faces that were seen in last year's tournament find themselves in a similar position after 18 holes, Rose chief among them

Patrick McDonald

Apr 9, 2026

10:00 pm ET

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12 min read

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Justin Rose has not yet reached the Rocky Balboa pump-up speech portion of his Masters career, but the point cannot be overstated -- it says a lot about the man (not the golfer) that Rose continually gets back up after getting knocked down. he may have stumbled coming into the clubhouse Thursday afternoon at Augusta National Golf Club amid a day where "crispy" and "crusty" were used to describe the golf course (not the local pizza joint down Washington Road), but the Englishman rose up the leaderboard across his first 18 holes to set up what could be a magical 21st tournament appearance.

Rose's opening 70 was not enough for a record sixth first-round lead in the Masters, but it was enough to position him second all-time with 10 top 10s at Augusta National when the tournament reaches its 18-hole mark. Only Phil Mickelson, a three-time green jacket winner, has more (11).

Rose finds himself sharing sixth-place with fellow major champions Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler. The quartet looks up to the man they all eyed in this tournament 12 months ago as defending champion Rory McIlroy signed for a 67, one shot worse than his best round achieved twice while completing his grand slam. Patrick Reed and Jason Day have gotten off to hot starts -- just as they did a year ago -- with Rose facing the possibility of a sequel with hopes for a different ending.

"The lead at this point is irrelevant," Rose said. "There's so much golf ahead that there's no point in even looking at who is doing what at this moment in time. It's just about just executing your strategy, feeling like you can run the clock down, playing as well as you can, and then towards the end you've got to kind of figure out if you need to change your strategy. But until the final few holes, really, it's just about doing as good as can you do."

The 45-year-old more than understands the cadence of major championships and the cliches that come with them. The Masters does not start until the second nine on Sunday. Leave your ball below the hole. You can't win the tournament on Thursday, but you can certainly lose it.

As eye-rolling as some may sound, they are said for a reason: they're mostly true.

Rose will navigate his next 54 holes in a way that speaks to his experience. He noted that last year's third round was the performance that really bothered him when looking back at the 2025 tournament. Rose shot the sixth-highest score of the day with his 75 and bled strokes to the field on the greens. No doubt, it will be on his mind heading into Saturday.

But that won't happen until Friday is conquered. Off early in the day and receiving a slight -- slight -- reprieve from the pizza-like conditions under which this golf course has baked, Rose will have a chance to better position himself in this tournament. If he can do so accordingly, perhaps the three-time runner-up will end his fight more like Balboa in "Rocky II."

Rory in rarified air

Isn't it funny how a place can go from being a nightmare to a happy hunting ground? Relaxed enough to enjoy a drink (clarified as a Coke Zero) in the champions' locker room following his first-round 67, McIlroy may have history on the line on Sunday. First, he had to make some on Thursday while flexing on the field, perhaps indicating that he's now even more dangerous at Augusta National with a green jacket in his locker.

The Northern Irishman became just the sixth reigning champion to grab the first-round lead in his title defense at the Masters, the first since Jordan Spieth a decade ago to do so. McIlroy's 67 marked the second-lowest first 18 holes of his career at Augusta National and his first sub-70 effort on a Thursday since 2018. That same year, McIlroy played in the final pairing on Sunday.

McIlroy noted that he felt like he got more than his fair share out of his round, believing a 2-under 70 would have sufficed based on how he played the first nine. Instead, he did a few better, but he will need to improve off the tee if he is to keep pressing his luck. McIlroy split just five fairways in the first round, and as Augusta National continues to get crustier, playing from the fairways == especially with his length -- will only become more advantageous.

> Rory did some work to make sure he could get a good read off Cameron Young’s putt.

And then it paid off for McIlroy. pic.twitter.com/0JLq0nc0si

— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) April 9, 2026

What concerns?

Remember when Scheffer was a horrible first-round performer? Or how about this one: Remember when his iron play had fallen off a cliff? Scheffler was masterful in his first-round 70 as the worl