Rose succeeds at first, but not much after that

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The path from the front door to the back door at the Masters is slippery and quick, as Justin Rose found out again Saturday.

Rose is seven over par after sharing the first-round lead with Trevor Immelman at four-under 68. Rose knocked it into the pond at the 11th hole and made a double bogey on his way to a one-over 73 Saturday and needed three birdies in the last five holes to get there.

But back-to-back rounds of 78-73 have left Rose at three over and out of the running.

“Obviously there was just a lack of slight mental adjustment over those two days,” said Rose, who has been the first-round leader three times and shot a third-round 81 in 2004. “Really the game didn’t go anywhere overnight. Obviously I just struggled to sort of frame it up right in my mind, I suppose.”

Rose, one of the bright lights for England, along with Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Lee Westwood, is playing in only his fourth Masters.

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The Boo Weekley file: He stopped to chat for a few minutes after his four-under 68.

Question: “Did you shave your goatee for good luck?”

Weekley: “My wife kind of told me it kind of started looking hideous.”

Question: “Your mother is going to play with you in the pro-am next week at Hilton Head and says she’s nervous and will embarrass you. What do you think of that?”

Weekley: “That’s my mom. How could she embarrass me? I’ll be the one embarrassing her. Ain’t the kids supposed to embarrass the parents?”

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Through three rounds, Geoff Ogilvy and K.J. Choi have only three birdies -- and Ogilvy was 31 under in his last two tournaments.

Since 1987, the fewest birdies in four rounds of the Masters is three, by amateur Robert Lewis in 1987 and John Cook in 1998.

Choi is nine over and Ogilvy six over after three rounds.

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Time check: Miguel Angel Jimenez was the first player out, at 10:50 a.m., playing with a marker, Augusta National member Jeff Knox. And even with the 40-minute rain delay, Jimenez finished in 4 hours 34 minutes.

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In Ian O’Connor’s new book, “Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf’s Greatest Rivalry,” Jack Nicklaus said he wouldn’t exclude having a female member at Augusta National.

“If there’s an outstanding woman who should be in there, why shouldn’t she be there? I mean, that’s my feeling.

“But I’m a member, and so when you’re a member and you’ve accepted the membership, you accept the policies of that membership. So you publicly shouldn’t say [anything] against the policies of that membership. That’s the point. But do I believe we should have women at Augusta? I don’t necessarily think we should have women, but I don’t think we should exclude them.”

Well, that clears that up.

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thomas.bonk@latimes.com