AUGUSTA — Justin Rose held serve on Friday at Augusta National.
Rose, the 44-year-old Englishman who charged to a three-shot first-round Masters lead with his 7-under-par 65 on Thursday, retained the lead on Friday with a 1-under 71.
He’ll take a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau into Saturday’s third round.
Rose, though his three-shot lead after 18 holes was shaved to one shot, walked away satisfied with his play despite Friday’s round being six shots worse than Thursday’s.
“Sometimes it’s hard to follow a low round with another one,” Rose said. “It’s just the nature of it sometimes. But I feel like if you’re playing good golf, you’re playing good golf. I was pretty focused on the job at hand.
“It felt like a pretty quick turnaround from yesterday evening getting into this morning. You want to try to go out there and keep the momentum going. From my point of view, decent day, for sure.”
Rose, who missed the cut at the Masters last year, had close finishes at the PGA (tie for sixth) and the British Open (tie for second) last year and is desperate to add another major championship to his 2013 U.S. Open win and his Olympic gold medal.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock on the door,” he said. “On both those occasions, especially Valhalla [the PGA], I actually made a run into contention there. And then, The Open championship, very much the same thing.
“Given how much you dream about winning them, I felt remarkably comfortable in those situations,” he said of the majors. “That’s what I’ve learned from those two things. If it was a secret recipe, you’d know it by now.”
Rose’s first-round lead on Thursday marked the fifth time in his 20 Masters that he held at least a share of the 18-hole lead.
In 2004 and 2021, he maintained that through 36 holes, finishing tied for 22nd and seventh, respectively.
He owns the distinction of having led in all four rounds of the Masters without ever winning.
He was tied for the lead with Sergio Garcia after 72 holes in 2017 when Garcia won in a playoff.
Rose doesn’t believe he’s owed anything, but maintains that he’s ready to win another major 12 years after his first.
“Twelve years slips by pretty quick,’’ Rose said. “I feel like there’s been other sort of great accomplishments in that time. I think winning the Olympic gold medal gave me a lot of satisfaction in that interim period, getting to world No. 1, winning the FedExCup.
“Really big milestone moments in my career have happened in that 12 years, which distracts you from the fact that you haven’t won a major in that period. [So], I haven’t been dwelling on that fact at all, really.”
Rose said of winning a Masters, “I’ll take it anytime. Beggars can’t be choosers. 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 probably a lot more as a gift towards the end of your career.’’