Justin Rose still rolling back the years as late career renaissance continues in Augusta

Justin Rose's Indian summer stayed hot on a glorious spring day in Georgia. The Ryder Cup hero had claimed last year that he was enjoying a late-career renaissance after competing at the US PGA and finishing runner-up at the Open.

Rose, now 44, repeated his forecast . He added: “ is not going to get easier for me in the next five, ten years so you have to make the most of it.” And that 2013 US Open winner sought to do on Friday with a carefully controlled one-under par 71 to take the clubhouse lead on eight-under par.

Rose broke the record he had shared with Jack Nicklaus when he led the Masters after the first round for the fifth time. The previous times he has topped the leaderboard, he averaged shooting 74 in his second round (2004 71, 2007 75, 2008 78, 2021 72). And he has still to break 70 in his 20 Fridays here.

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But in his 20th Masters, the 44-year-old showed he had learned from his previous experiences here with a gameplan of using lots of 3-woods off the tee. And after his best ever Augusta putting performance on the first day where he needed only 25 putts, his short game kept his momentum going.

Asked if he had heard TV pundits talking about his poor second round record here, Rose laughed: “No which is good. Glad you told me now, not this morning. That's probably why I'm not going to watch TV all afternoon. So thank you, yeah. What do they know? That's why they are pundits. Sometimes it's hard to follow a low round with another one. Just the nature of it sometimes. But I feel like if you're playing good golf, you're playing good golf.”

Rose has twice finished runner-up here. Asked if he will appreciate winning a first Green Jacket at the age of 44, he said: “I think I'll take it anytime. Beggars can't be choosers, you know. But I would take it right now for sure. Sometimes if it happens too early in your career, you've got a lot to live up to. I think if it happens now, I would enjoy it, I think, probably a lot more. Come a bit more as a gift towards the end of your career. So I think there would be a lot more satisfaction in it for sure.”

Predicted rain passed through overnight to leave softened greens and fresh conditions. The No.39 made his first birdie of the day on the par-5 No.2 when his long iron approach rolled into a greenside bunker. But Rose splashed out to 14 feet and rolled in the birdie putt to reopen the four-shot lead on the field he had held before his final-hole bogey on Thursday.

He needed more short-game magic at the No.4 when his popped tee shot came up short at the 240-yard par-3. “Good layup!” he said to laughter on the tee. But from 55 yards, he chipped up to five feet beyond the pin and save par. He could not repeat the feat at No.5. Rose drove into a fairway bunker and this time did not make the 15-foot par saver.

But his careful gameplan saw him get the shot back at the next par-5. Rose hit two 3-woods to get to 33 yards of the pin at No.8 before chipping up to five feet and making his second birdie. He made the turn in one-under for the day and reached nine-under par for the tournament for the first time this year when he stroked his tee shot to four feet on No.12.

But at No.14, his second shot from only 154 yards rolled back off the front of the green. The 2016 Olympic champion then made a rare poor chip up the hill which came up 26 feet short and could easily have rolled back to his feet.

With US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau making a charge, Rose was suddenly only one shot clear. The Englisman made his fourth and final birdie on the No.16 when he floated his tee shot to seven feet.

But he gave the shot back on No.17 when he found a greenside bunker from the middle of the fairway. And after missing the final green, Rose posted an under-par score by rolling in his par putt from 13 feet.

Rose equalled his opening 65 from 2021 in his first round to lead or co-lead after a completed round at the Masters for the eighth time - a record for anyone who has not won a Green Jacket. He has led after every round here, including in 2017 before losing the playoff to Sergio Garcia.

Asked if that stat is a compliment or an insult, he said: “I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament. I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it. I feel like it's a compliment. I've played a lot of good rounds of golf here. But you've got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and obviously the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don't shy away from it.”