Smylie Kaufman says what was unusual about the golf course at Augusta on day one of The Masters

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The Masters day one was full of twists and turns, with Justin Rose emerging as the early leader at Augusta National.

Rose carded a seven-under 65 at the 2025 Masters to finish as the solo leader after the first round in Georgia.

Scottie Scheffler impressed in The Masters round one too, with the defending champion finishing Thursday in T2.

The world number one is joined in T2 by Corey Conners and Ludvig Aberg, who all carded four-under 68s.

Two LIV Golf players are next in the leaderboard heading into Friday, with Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau on three-under.

Smylie Kaufman compares Augusta front and back nines after Masters day one

Among the many tuning into the first round of the major championship was Smylie Kaufman, who noticed something unusual at play at Augusta on Thursday.

“The back nine was playing two over par at one point, whereas the front was closer to even,” he said on The Smylie Show.

“So twice as hard. That isn’t typical. When you get to the back nine you think of 10 and 11 being difficult holes.

READ MORE: Furious Patrick Reed names the club he wanted to break despite shooting under par in round one of The Masters

“12 being a potential scoring opportunity if you hit a good iron shot and then 13, 14 and 15 – depending where they put the pin at 14.

“But they definitely had some tough pin positions. You saw players coming off the front and over par and you were thinking where are they going to find birdies.

“The one guy who was able to do it, and you have to give them flowers, especially in the afternoon was Akshay Bhatia.”

Akshay Bhatia impresses at Augusta as Rory McIlroy suffers Masters collapse

Bhatia, partnered with Rory McIlroy and Aberg for rounds one and two, is T7 on the leaderboard after a bright start.

He is currently on two-under after round one of The Masters, with an even par 36 and a two-under 34 on the front and back nines respectively.

READ MORE: Rory McIlroy picks his favourite run of four holes at Augusta National where he really feels he can make birdies

McIlroy’s first round meanwhile was also very much a tale of two halves, albeit askew in terms of the course.

The four-time major champion superbly went four-under through holes 1-14, but collapsed with a four-over through holes 15-18.