Smelling like a Rose

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On a storm-interrupted day that saw eight-time majors champion Tiger Woods wilt from contention, England’s Justin Rose blossomed atop the leader board at the 68th Masters.

The 23-year-old Rose, who introduced himself to the golf world when he bolted to a top-five finish as a teenaged amateur at the 1998 British Open, bombarded Augusta National yesterday with the best ball-striking round the tournament has seen since Greg Norman opened with a 63 in 1996. Rose hit a plausibility-mocking 17 greens on his circuit of the treacherous course en route to a first-round 67, forging a two-stroke advantage over U.S. veterans Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas.

“Obviously, I’m delighted. It’s a dream start,” said Rose, who has collected four worldwide victories the last two seasons after starting his pro career in halting fashion. “Anytime you’re in a major situation or on a major stage and you shoot a round that could be the round of the day, it has to be one of the best rounds you’ve ever played.”

How spectacular was Rose’s ball-striking? He took only 35 swings (non-putts) to cruise around the course. If you were to hit every green in regulation, you would take 36 swings — meaning that, mathematically, Rose had to hit at least one par-5 in two. In fact, he reached two (Nos.2 and 8). And his finally tally could have been even better had he not struggled somewhat with the short stick, a pair of three-putts at Nos.8 and 11 keeping him from taking total command of the proceedings.

“Yeah, you always feel like you leave a couple out there, but I’m not going to quibble with a 67,” said Rose, who tied for 39th last year in his first Masters’ start. “Four of those, and you’re phoning the tailor.”

One player who now seems unlikely to be making that call is Woods, who for the seventh straight major struggled mightily from tee to green. The three-time Masters maven, who has seen his once-flawless form devolve since he split with swing instructor Butch Harmon in June 2002, staggered around a layout that once seemed fashioned expressly for him.

One of 18 players left on the course when play was suspended by darkness at 7:45 p.m., Woods marched menacingly past the media without a word after playing 14 birdie-free holes in 4 over.

“Give him a break!” screamed Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams, when reporters followed him to the players’ parking lot seeking a comment. Woods remained mute, though he was anything but on his disappointing loop around the layout, bathing the revered land in a catalogue of profanity worthy of Dennis Leary during his first-round debacle.

Woods has claimed for weeks that his six-major slump and one stroke-play victory in the last year have little to do with his split from Harmon. He has continually assured his critics that he is capable of correcting his own swing. And yet the move he unveiled yesterday for his run at a fourth green jacket looked nothing like the confident, upright flash of steel he used to collect his fourth straight major three years ago this week.

He pull-hooked a drive on No.1 en route to an opening bogey. He followed that with a dead block second shot at No.2, settling for a par on the par-5 he reached Monday with a blasted drive and just a 7-iron. His day-defining disaster then occurred at No.5, when he blew his approach 40 yards long and left into the woods behind the green. In a moment comical to all but Woods, the 28-year-old choked down within inches of the hosel on an iron, hunched awkwardly in a stand of pines and magnolias, and flipped the ball barely back to the course proper en route to a double bogey.

At the par-5 eighth, he drove into a fairway bunker and hacked his way to another bogey, finishing the front nine in 40 humbling strokes. Perfectly mirroring his dark mood, a thunderstorm strafed the property moments later, forcing a two-hour suspension of play.

Perhaps many thought the rain delay would give him time to mentally regroup, not to mention softening the layout’s devilishly hard, fast greens. After all, Woods had famously begun the 1997 Masters with a front-nine 40 before erupting to play the final 63 holes in 24-under. But little changed after the delay, Woods carding an ugly par at the 13th — a par-5 he has owned over the years — and never really threatening birdie before he stalked off the property at dusk.

Woods was hardly alone in his frustration, however. High-profile performers Phil Mickelson (72), Colin Montgomerie (71), Sergio Garcia (72), Nick Price (72) and Ernie Els (2-under through 17) all fought their way within striking distance of Rose before plummeting on the back nine.

“It was a weird day,” said Els, who bogeyed the 17th to finish on a sour note. “Nobody really got into a rhythm, and then the weather came and added another distraction. It was a real grinder.”

Els and Woods are among the 18 players who will return to the layout at 8:45 a.m. today to complete first-round play. The second round is scheduled to begin, as planned, at 8.