Thursday at The Masters: Rose Blooms, Freddie Turns Back the Clock, and Pre-Tourney Favorites Shine

Thursday's play at Augusta National has come and gone, and the course certainly set up better for the later tee times. However, one of the early risers was a 64-year-old in his 40th start at the Masters.

1992 Champion Fred Couples teed off in the eighth group on the course along with Harris English and Taylor Pendrith, and the group had a fruitful day. Pendrith ended with a five-over score that really wasn't as bad as it seemed, and English found four birdies and two bogeys en route to a two-under 70 that has him firmly within the top-10 heading into Friday. However, it was Couples that made the galleries flock to the trio.

On first glance, Couples’ one-under 71 might not seem like anything to write home about, but given that he is the second-oldest player in the field after Bernhard Langer (who was also hanging around the top page of the leaderboard before faltering on the back nine and finishing with a disappointing, but still impressive, 74), Couples’ 71 is extremely impressive. Couples has played four events on the Champions Tour this year and has two top-10s to show for it, but nothing has been said that he should be a pre-tournament favorite going in. He probably won't contend on Sunday, but becoming the oldest player to make the cut (and beating his record from last year) would put a good wrap on the week.

The early groups did have their share of scoring, with players like Corey Conners (9:14 tee time, -4), Scottie Scheffler (10:15 tee time, -4), and Tyrrell Hatton (10:26 tee time, -3) putting up low numbers early and finishing the day in the top-5. English, Aaron Rai, and Jason Day also ended up at two-under from the morning wave, and eight players from the early play ended up at one-under.

In the afternoon, however, four players stuck around the top of the leaderboard: Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, and Bryson DeChambeau.

Rose set the marker for the day's round with a seven-under 65 (though he was at eight-under before a bogey at the closing hole). Rose, who hasn't won worldwide since 2023, came into this week amid a decidedly hit-or-miss 2025 campaign, with three missed cuts in six starts on the PGA Tour but two top-10s, including a T3 finish at Pebble Beach in February, where he finished three strokes behind McIlroy. A win this week for the 2013 US Open Champion would erase the heartbreak of eight years ago when he lost in a playoff with Sergio Garcia after putting his drive into the trees on the lone playoff hole.

Aberg and DeChambeau played in consecutive groups and rocketed up the leaderboard on the back nine. Aberg had a stretch on the back nine where he had three birdies in four holes, and DeChambeau had a similar stretch, though bogeys sandwiched his on 12 and 17. Aberg ended up at four-under and tied for second, while DeChambeau shot a 69, good enough to be tied for fifth overnight. Both are in contention again, a year after Aberg finished solo-second in his Masters debut and DeChambeau held the 18- and 36-hole leads before finishing T6.

McIlroy, meanwhile, got to four-under through 14 holes before falling apart with two double bogeys coming in and ended up shooting a 72. Despite the poor finish to his round, McIlroy showed why he was one of the pre-tournament favorites. McIlroy had been one of the strongest players on the planet for the last 12 months, with six wins and six further top-5s worldwide since the start of April 2024.

Some big names faltered despite the successes of pre-tournament favorites like Scheffler, Aberg, DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith. Collin Morikawa struggled with his putting en route to an even-par 72, while Xander Schauffele struggled on the par-4s, with five bogeys on those holes, though he did make up for it on the par-5s and par-3s and ground out a 73.

Nothing, however, could compare to the nightmare day Nick Dunlap had. Dunlap became the first player in 10 years to shoot a 90 at The Masters and also became the youngest to shoot in the 90s by fourteen years. He didn’t speak to the media afterward, but Robert MacIntyre, who played with Dunlap, couldn't have said more positives about him.

“He was struggling out there today, [but] his attitude was solid,” said MacIntyre. “He didn't get in the way. He didn't lay off anything that was going to affect his two other playing partners because we've got a job to do.”

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