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And we’re off

• The 2008 Masters tees off Thursday as Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman are in a tie for the early lead.

Scott Chancey

AUGUSTA — Past Masters leaderboards have been fools gold to Justin Rose. And as always, Tiger Woods is lurking at Augusta National Golf Club.

Rose has twice been the 18-hole leader, in 2004 and '07, and even led at the halfway mark in 2004. Still without a green jacket, Rose rebounded from being 2 over par in Thursday’s first round and carded 4-under 68, tying for the lead with South African Trevor Immelman.

Woods is tied for 19th with an even-par 72, and Phil Mickelson is tied for 11th with a 71.

After leading the Masters’ first round in three of the past five years, Rose knows he has something working for him.

As for what it is?

“I don't know, exactly,” Rose said. “I obviously work hard before it, get myself up for it and it's obviously an important tournament. I think the early part of the year, you set your schedule up well around it, peaking for this event and I feel that I was kind of doing that.”

That was for sure Thursday.

And much of that adrenaline which resulted had to do with him getting past a 2-over-par start.

“That was a bonus really,” Rose said “I think probably being 2 over after four, maybe wouldn't have expected to have shot 68, but obviously I wasn't really thinking about my score. I think that's probably the reason why I managed to obviously turn it around. I was trying to stay patient and play shot for shot.”

Despite being tied for 19th, Woods does not believe it’s time to panic.

After saying earlier in the year he is attempting to achieve the single-year Grand Slam, he still likes his chances.

“I kept myself in the tournament. I’m right there,” Woods said. “With the weather supposed to be getting more difficult as the week goes on, I’m right there.”

After bogeying the 13th and 14th, Woods salvaged the round with a chip-in from behind the 15th green for an eagle. He parred the rest of the way.

“I’m just going to relax,” Woods said after the round that was delayed an hour because of fog. “I’m going to hit a few putts, but I feel good about how I played all day.”

Mickelson, meanwhile, started with two consecutive birdies, but a bogey on the sixth slowed his momentum.

“I probably could have been quite a bit lower had I made anything,” said Mickelson, who birdied the par-5 13th only to give that stroke back the ensuing hole. “But I’ll get the speed dialed in.”

And once again, Zach Johnson is in contention, tied for sixth with a 70.

Augusta National’s defending champion, who won last year’s Masters with a 1-over-par 289, scored four birdies, but had a par putt lip out on the ninth. He recollected himself, however, by birdying the 12th and 13th, the latter of which was made from 15 feet.

“I might have said it earlier, but I couldn’t wait for (Thursday),” Johnson said. “I feel good, yeah. You know, Thursday, you can’t win it. I feel like I played (Thursday) for (Thursday); in other words, not thinking about (today), so I’m not thinking about last year.”

In Rose’s round, the turning point was the sixth hole, being the first of four consecutive birdies that moved him under par.

“I hit a great shot into (No. 6) and holed a slippery little putt and that really settled me down,” Rose said.

In Immelman’s case, he birdied the 15th to go at 4 under and maintained his composure the rest of the way. If Immelman had made a 10-footer on the final hole, he would have owned the outright lead. Not bad for a golfer, who after competing in eight events so far this year, only has one top-25 finish to show for it.

“Well, obviously, my form hasn’t been too stellar so far yet this season,” Immelman said. “You know, I think I’ve been struggling through a few things, and, you know, each week I’ve kind of felt like I chipped away at something new and started getting a little bit better.”

Immelman, whose best majors finish was fifth in the 2005 Masters, surely received a boost Thursday.

“Well, it definitely makes me feel good, so it will give me some self confidence,” Immelman said. “You know, major championships, you can’t get too far ahead of yourself and you can’t get overconfident.”

Brian Bateman, playing in his first Masters at the age of 35, birdied two of his first three holes and is in a three-way tie with Brandt Snedeker and Lee Westwood for third with a 69. While no golfer took full command of the scoreboard, that seemed to benefit Bateman. It even seemed surreal to him to have his name ahead of those like Woods and Mickelson.

“I didn’t look at the board at all (Thursday),” Bateman said. “You know, it’s way too early. And I take that back, I looked on 16 when they put my name up there for the first time. I turned to my caddie and said, ‘Wow, they are showing us some love.’ ”

Rose and Immelman, however, were the ones with the most love at the end of the round. Rose, who has yet to earn a top-10 finish this year, still looks back at the 2007 Masters for motivation, when he was tied for second going into the final round and tied for a career Augusta National-best fifth.

“I think I learned that I just felt like I belonged here, that I enjoyed it, that I felt comfortable with it,” Rose said. “Yeah, ultimately enjoying it was the biggest — not surprise, but the thing I felt the best about. I wasn’t particularly nervous. Obviously, it’s the Masters, you’re nervous, of course but I was just really enjoying the challenge there.”

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