Rose Makes Splash

They didn’t stop play for afternoon tea -- it was a thunderstorm that suspended tee time at 4:09 p.m. local time -- yet Thursday’s first round of the 2004 Masters was so English.

The sun peeped in and out all day, the rain was off and on, and 23-year-old Justin Rose, by way of Fleet, Hampshire, shot a five-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead into a somewhat soggy clubhouse.

Jolly good.

Rose’s opening round was about as open and shut as an umbrella.

Masters officials, tight controllers of all that is Augusta National, predicted only light showers for first-round play but, unfortunately, club Chairman Hootie Johnson has no jurisdiction over air and space.

After a two-hour weather delay, first-round play was suspended because of darkness with several of the world’s best players still on the course, including a frustrated Tiger Woods, who stood four over par through 14 holes, and defending champion Mike Weir, four over through 15.

Rose was safely in the clubhouse, maybe reading Dickens by the fire, when the worst of the weather struck.

When play was halted at 7:45 p.m. EDT, Rose held a lead over Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas, who shot three-under 69s. Darren Clarke and Chris Riley are three shots behind after shooting two-under 70.

Players left on the course in leaderboard contention included Ernie Els and Alex Cejka, each at two-under with the 18th hole to finish up this morning.

DiMarco, although not the leader, had plenty to brag about after playing the only bogey-free round and scoring a hole-in-one on the par-three, 180-yard sixth hole.

“It was just a very perfect shot,” said the 35-year-old DiMarco, who used a five-iron for his ace.

It was a surreal moment for DiMarco, who attended the University of Florida and dreamed of playing in the Masters.

“I can remember being in college, it was like we never moved Saturday and Sunday,” he said. “We were on the couch the whole time.... There’s something special about it.... Just the aura of the place is just magnificent.”

Haas is another interesting early contender, a 50-year-old man knocking irons against a first-round leader, Rose, who is 27 years younger.

Haas posted his best first round at the Masters in 21 starts, but he has had his moments. He was the 36-hole leader in 1995 and finished third, and had fifth-place finishes in 1985 and 1994.

Last year, he shot 79-76 and missed the cut.

What gives?

“Well, I guess I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel like at 50,” Haas said.

It sure doesn’t feel like 23 ...

Rose, the English kid, put on a bookish, bookend performance, opening his round with two birdies and closing with two, rolling home a 12-foot putt on the par-four finishing hole.

It appears Rose is finally rounding into form -- almost six years after his target date.

You may remember the name.

Miraculously, at Royal Birkdale, when he was 17, Rose tied for fourth at the 1998 British Open.

His one-under 69 in the final round was seen by 6 million Brits on television -- he even received a congratulatory phone call from the Duchess of York.

Rose turned professional the day after his British Open performance -- then missed 21 cuts in a row.

“There were times when, hey, you’re thinking, ‘Well, this is going to be a long, uphill struggle,’ ” he said.

Rose kept plugging and, well, you know, kept a stiff upper lift.

He finally punched through in 2002, winning four tournaments, two in Europe and one in Japan.

And he won a masters tournament -- the Nashua Masters in South Africa.

Rose prefers to bask in the glow of those four victories.

“That’s the way I like to look at it, put a positive spin on the pretty dodgy spell of form,” he said.

Rose was born in South Africa, but his family moved to England when he was 5. Like most young golfers in his country, he was inspired and motivated by Englishman Nick Faldo, a three-time winner of the Masters.

Rose was only a lad when Faldo won consecutive green jackets in 1989 and 1990, but what Englishman could forget Faldo’s epic comeback win in 1996 over Australian Greg Norman?

“That was something I was glued to,” Rose said.

Rose aside, it was a strong opening-day showing for the Europeans, who held six of the top 13 spots.

A return to power?

No European has won a U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970, or a PGA Championship since Tommy Armour in 1930, but Europeans have won at Augusta 11 times since 1979 -- although not since Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999.

There were no indicators to suggest Rose would shine here.

He finished tied for 39th at last year’s Masters and has finished no better than tied for 24th on this year’s PGA Tour.

Rose qualified for the Masters only by virtue of his top-10 finish in last year’s U.S. Open at Olympia Fields -- he tied for fifth.

Rose figures it’s time to get a move on in his still-promising career.

Didn’t Els win his first major at 24?

“If you want to be one of the best players in the world, now is the time to start coming through, really,” Rose said.

He looked comfortable Thursday on Augusta’s well-manicured lawns, drawing from the heady feelings he had as a teenager at Royal Birkdale.

“The thing I did so well there was, I was blissfully unaware of the level I was actually playing at,” Rose said.

His ideal mind-set heading toward weekend play?

“I think ‘unfazed’ would be my ideal mind-set,” Rose said.