Day one digest: The 2021 Masters Tournament

Everything you need to know from day one at the first Major Championship of the 2021 Race to Dubai.

Rose bloomed among the flowers, Tommy was chasing the ace, the course bared its teeth and a former champion loved it on Thursday at Augusta National.

Here is everything you need to know from day one of the 2021 Masters Tournament.

Rose gets hot and opens up commanding lead

Augusta National saw its scoring records shattered five months ago in soft November conditions and it's clear the grand old venue didn't like it. So on Thursday, it took its revenge, with firm and fast conditions meaning that just three players broke 70. Hideki Matsuyama and Brian Harman were comfortable in the clubhouse after a pair of 69s that were very respectable - and then Justin Rose showed up. The Englishman was two over after seven holes and then went eagle-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie. In what seemed like the blink of an eye he had carded a 65 and led by four - a sixth lead or co-lead at the Masters, the most ever by a non-winner. “I guess the good news is I don’t know what happened, that’s often when you play your best golf and get into the nice rhythm or flow,” Rose said. Talk about in the zone.

Tommy is perfect again

It is less than two weeks since Tommy Fleetwood made a hole-in-one at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and he was at it again in Georgia. The Englishman holed his nine iron at the par three 16th for the first ace of the week and was delighted to do it on such hallowed ground. "It's nice to have one at the Masters," he said. "It's really nice to have one at the Masters. I think that's two in two competitive weeks as well. I'm racking them up all of a sudden quickly. I'll try to keep it going. It's very special. Doing it at a Major is great, doing it competitively is great, but at Augusta is probably just another edge."

Reed relishing the challenge

Patrick Reed knows a thing or two about Augusta National having won the Green Jacket in 2018 so the difficult conditions will have been no surprise to him. What was a surprise was how much he loved the devilishly tough set up as he shot a 70. "I love this type of golf, especially around here because you have to be creative," he said. "There's a lot of thinking and thought process and creativity that goes through this golf course and I feel like that's usually when I play my best, when I sit there, and rather than sitting there talking about a golf swing, I sit there and think about shots and try to hit different kinds of flights and all that stuff. I think the biggest thing is I just love a challenge. I love having your back up against the wall and you having to go and produce, try to do something." And we love watching you do it, Patrick.

"It's a completely different golf course"

Much has been made of the differing conditions between the Masters in November and this week. Christiaan Bezuidenhout made his debut at this event five months ago and having now played it in its traditional spring setting, he is the ideal man to explain the change. "November played soft, it played long," he said. "Like now there's some places where you can't even hold a green with a seven iron in your hand, where November you're going for flags with a four iron in your hand. "It's a completely different golf course. Different course management. You have to give those holes respect and just take a ball on the holes and go. When you are in position for the birdies, then you can make birdies." After a top 40 in November and a share of fourth after 18 holes, it seems Bez can play this course however it is set up.

Elder, Nicklaus and Player continue tradition

Lee Elder joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player to continue the long-standing honorary starter tradition on Thursday morning. Elder, who became the first black man to compete in the Masters 46 years ago, joined Nicklaus and Player as a guest for the first time in this year’s tradition, which started back in 1963. News of Elder assuming the role of Honorary Starter alongside Nicklaus and Player was released last November, announcing that he would be joining the two former Champions who had previously spent years sharing the honour with Arnold Palmer. Elder, now 86, had been deeply moved by the gesture, and was incredibly emotional about the experience. "I certainly want to say thank you so very much for this great opportunity," said Elder. "For me and my family, I think it was one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever witnessed or been involved in." More history for an extraordinary man.

Family affair for McIlroy

With patrons back at Augusta, what are the chances an errant shot would manage to hit a member of your family? Well that was the case for Rory McIlroy as he hit father Gerry on the seventh. The former world number one gave a good shout of fore before the ball hit Gerry on the back of the leg, and McIlroy Snr was able to see the funny side, joking with reporters “I should ask for an autographed glove". "I think he just needs to go put some ice on it,” Rory said after his round. “Maybe I’ll autograph a bag of frozen peas for him.”