Masters leaderboard: Justin Rose goes low; Scottie Scheffler, Bryson Dechambeau in top 5 after Round 1

Entering this week of the 2025 Masters, so much of the conversation surrounded the potential for an all-time duel at Augusta National between the top two players in the world, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. For much of Thursday, those two titans of the game looked like they were going to deliver on that promise -- and then some.

Scheffler posted a bogey-free 68 to match Corey Conners for the early clubhouse lead at 4 under, and McIlroy was tied with them well into his second nine before disaster struck at the par-5 15th. Rory chipped into the water from behind the green, leading to a double bogey. He followed that up with another double bogey after a poor chip from over the 17th green led to a three-putt, and he backed up from 4 under to post a disappointing even-par 72. Ludvig Åberg, meanwhile, went the other way in the same group, joining Scheffler and Conners at 4 under. 

The only man that could top that trio was Justin Rose. The Englishman will take a three-shot lead into Friday's second round in his 20th appearance at the Masters. Rose was sensational Thursday, moving it as deep as 8 under through 16 holes before giving one back at the 18th, his only bogey on the round. 

Rose picked up his birdies in bunches with three straight to open his round and then another trifecta on Nos. 8-10. On a day where the second nine played more than a shot over par, his 34 was sensational. He navigated Amen Corner without a blemish and then added birdies on the 15th and 16th, which was no small feat on a more difficult day than usual on the second nine at Augusta National. 

With his 7-under 65, Rose made a bit of Masters history. It's the fifth time he's held the lead or co-lead after 18 holes, breaking a tie with Jack Nicklaus (!) for the most first round leads at the Masters. At age 44, he is the oldest first round leader since a 50-year-old Fred Couples held a one-shot advantage after 18 holes in 2010. (Couples turned back the clock again Thursday with a 1-under 71 at age 65, including a hole-out eagle on the 14th!) 

Rose has come close to Masters triumph in the past, finishing second in 2015 and 2017, and he's now had the lead eight times at the end of a round, the most of any player without a green jacket.

2025 Masters leaderboard breakdown, Round 1

1. Justin Rose (-7): Rose's challenge will now be holding onto that on what is expected to be a windy Friday in Augusta, Georgia, with some of the world's best players in hot pursuit. He will need to figure out how to bottle his feels from tee to green for three more days, but he should have plenty of confidence in his game after a truly incredible round of golf on a course that was playing extremely difficult. 

T2. Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners, Ludvig Åberg (-4): It's no surprise to see Scheffler near the top of the leaderboard after the first round as he's opened with a round under 70 in the last four Masters (one shy of Nicklaus' record). After finishing runner-up to Scheffler a year ago, it probably shouldn't be a surprise to see Åberg alongside him, either. The young Swede steadily plotted his way along Thursday with just one bogey, making four birdies in his last seven holes to rocket up the leaderboard. Conners, meanwhile, has his own strong history at the Masters with three top 10s to his name, and the ball-striking extraordinaire from Canada put forth one of his best rounds to get into the mix going into Friday. 

T5. Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau (-3): DeChambeau briefly had it to 4 under after a birdie on the 16th but gave it right back on the 17th. It's the second year in a row that he's put up a terrific opening round, but he'll be looking to back up a quality start this time around after falling off the pace in 2024. He's joined by Hatton, who likewise had it to 4 under in the early wave until a bogey on No. 17; the at-times mercurial Englishman put together a steady opening 18 holes. 

T7. Aaron Rai, Harris English, Jason Day, Akshay Bhatia (-2): Early in the morning, Rai was the first to get it to 4 under as he made the turn in 32, but he came back to earth a bit on his second nine. Bhatia had the opposite path to 2 under; he closed extremely well with five birdies in his final six holes to turn what looked like a round heading for disaster into a top 10 entering Friday. 

T11. Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Min Woo Lee, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Fred Couples and 10 others (-1): There's quite a logjam at 1 under, and it includes some big names and Masters champions. The T11 position on Thursday night is an important one historically as the last 18 Masters champions have been T11 or better after the first round.

Couples' 71 was one of the highlights of the morning, and his eagle at the 14th produced perhaps the loudest roar Thursday. Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee each made 15 pars in their rounds as the Aussies scrambled their way to an under par round to be in the mix going to Friday. Reed, the 2018 champion, has been rock solid at the Masters ever since that victory, and he will come into Friday hanging around as well. Hovland and Lowry likewise made their way around without any disasters, which was no small feat on Thursday, and will remain in the mix going to Friday. Not shooting yourself out of the tournament is always the No. 1 goal of Thursday, and everyone in this position will feel like they accomplished that. 

T27. Collin Morikawa, Joaquín Niemann, Rory McIlroy and eight others (E): At one point or another, all three of Morikawa, Niemann and McIlroy had it to at least 3 under and looked like real threats. However, all of them fell apart on the second nine. While they probably aren't totally out of the tournament at even par, they now have a lot of work to do on Friday when the weather is supposed to be at its most extreme this week. Going low is not expected to be an easy feat, but each of these players will feel the need to get into red figures, at minimum, entering the weekend if they're going to claim a green jacket. 

T38. Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood and eight others (+1): There are two types of player in this group: the ones who were solidly under par at some point (Spieth, Matsuyama) but had an implosion that took them out of red figures and those that got off to rough starts and grinded to a 73 (Thomas, Schauffele, Fleetwood). The latter group will at least feel like they carry a bit of momentum into Friday as they try to climb into red figures, while the former will be in a different headspace, wondering how they let a promising round slip away. 

T51. Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Cantlay and 7 others (+2): Everyone in at 2 over will go into Friday knowing they have work to do as they sit just barely outside the cut line of the top 50 and ties going into the second round. There are some heavy hitters and major champions in this group, and while a win might be too much to ask, all of them will be looking to at least play their way into the weekend on Friday.