Fri 04 Apr 2007Flawless Rose grabs the early leadUS Masters:Who could have foreseen it? As the 71st
Masters tormented and teased those eyeing the prospect of having a
green jacket slipped on their shoulders come Sunday evening, Justin
Rose, a player wrapped in cotton wool for the past couple of months
to protect a back injury, coped most admirably with all the
questions posed by Augusta National, a course whose slick greens
were aided and abetted by a constant breeze to add to the devilment
of it all.So, on a day when Tiger Woods, the world number one and
four-time Masters champion, couldn't buy a birdie for love or money
on his front nine, England's Rose stayed calm - not dropping a shot
all round - to sign for a 69, three-under, that allowed him ponder
the next three days and what they hold.