Justin Rose has suggested that he took energy from his surroundings when shooting seven under to lead the Masters after the first round.

Rose has been runner-up at the Masters twice before, in 2015 and 2017, but has never won it after 19 attempts.

"Starting the day it was very much in my own bubble, my own game. And you're off to a good start, and you're aware you're in the tournament from the word go and your name is on the leaderboard, and the crowd around you know you're playing well and you get energy from them as well," he said, as reported by BBC Sport.

"And then there was a nice special run, eight, nine, 10, and I got to six under. That's when the day felt a bit different. That's when I felt I was doing something potentially more on the special side.

"You have Amen Corner to come, and you're never really ahead of yourself until you're through 12 anyway, but good pars on 11 and 12. And felt like there was an opportunity to really post a low score, to be honest with you, and I did a great job on the back nine.

"The putt at No. 16, at that point maybe got ahead of myself. I felt like 17 and 18 were potential birdie holes with where the pins are. So I felt like, you know, I was definitely looking forward and looking to do something special today.

"Overall, I think great day. And yeah, I played a lot of golf here at Augusta National. So to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me."

Pencils down. The first round is in the books. #themasters pic.twitter.com/7pOwXkAZ3T
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025

Playing in his 20th Masters tournament this year, and now 45 years old, Rose downplayed the idea that his age could give him an advantage after taking a three-shot lead.

Among those finishing under-par after their first round at Augusta was 65-year-old Fred Couples, who shot one under to finish T11.

“Experience is great, [but] you have to execute, right? It doesn’t make up for poor execution, ever," said Rose, speaking to NBC Sports.

"But if you can have great experience and execute on top of it, that’s a great combo.

“I’ve had many great rounds here, been on the flip side as well, so you can understand where things can go sideways. So that’s always good to know, and you’ve got to be able to mitigate risk at times as well.

“That’s hopefully where the experience can kick in because there’s never 72 holes of plain sailing. But we’re feeling good and just got to go do it all over again tomorrow.”