“He’s going to hit it right where it needs to be, and he’s going to find that sweet spot…Justin Rose can find these greens as good as Tiger Woods in his prime.” – Brandel Chamblee on Rose at Augusta National

“Sometimes coming in with little expectations, it frees a player up, and I think for Justin Rose, that’s probably what we saw today.” – Justin Leonard

“The way Bryson DeChambeau drove the ball today, he may pull an all-nighter…He has some work to figure out.” – Chamblee

Live From the Masters Second Round Coverage Begins Tomorrow Morning at 8 a.m. ET and Continues in Primetime at 7:30 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 8, 2021 – NBC Sports presented opening round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel, as Justin Rose shot a seven-under 65 to take the first round lead.

Live From the Masters continues with second round coverage tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. ET and in primetime at 7:30 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.

Throughout the week, GOLF Channel’s daily live coverage features more than 55 hours and includes pre-and post-tournament coverage through the final round on Sunday, April 11.

The Masters – Opening Round Leaderboard

On Justin Rose

Rich Lerner: “On a day when a number of big names struggled, Justin Rose served up a mind-boggling reminder that he too, not long ago, was one of those big names.”

Brandel Chamblee: “The way Justin Rose is playing, he looked like vintage Justin Rose here. This looked like the guy who won the U.S. Open in 2013, and it looked like he might win several other championships.”

Justin Leonard: “Justin Rose (is) really the only one to generate heat on a fiery golf course here opening day.”

Chamblee on how Rose’s game plays at Augusta National: “That’s the kind of accountant that I’d like to have. He’s not going to cut corners. He’s going to hit it right where it needs to be, and he’s going to find that sweet spot. That’s what he does. This is a thinking man’s golf course…Justin Rose can find these greens as good as Tiger Woods in his prime.”

Leonard on Rose’s turnaround today: “We saw no semblance of this. He didn’t even know where his game was for the last month coming in here, but he used his experience and kind of walking the tight rope very nicely today at Augusta National…Sometimes coming in with little expectations, it frees a player up, and I think for Justin Rose, that’s probably what we saw today.”

On Bryson DeChambeau

Chamblee: “The way Bryson DeChambeau drove the ball today, he may pull an all-nighter. He’s burning the midnight oil many, many times at major championships, but he may be there until the sun comes up. He has some work to figure out.”

Leonard: “Bryson DeChambeau is trying to figure out how hard he hits a pitching wedge because today it looked like he had no clue…Those are the kinds of mistakes that you cannot make at Augusta National and expect to play halfway decent.”

Lerner: “At least to this point, Augusta National is not Bryson’s golf course.”

Chamblee: “It’s a square peg in a round hole for him. He’s linear, this golf course is abstract. I’m going to borrow an analogy from the GEICO lizard, and say this golf course fits him about as well as a porcupine in a balloon factory. It’s just not a good fit for him.”

On Rory McIlroy

Chamblee: “I’ve never seen him swing like he did today. I’ve never seen him this unorganized, I’ve never seen him miss shots the way he missed them today. I’ve seen him miss plenty of shots, I’ve seen him hit bad shots and make bad swings, but I’ve never seen him make worse swings than he did today…From a purely empirical standpoint, I’ve never seen him hit the ball that bad.”

On Dustin Johnson

Leonard: “The defending champion with quite a bit of work to do, but we know that he’s capable.”

On Lee Elder, who broke the color barrier at the 1975 Masters and served as today’s honorary starter

Damon Hack: “The beauty of the morning, the dignity of the man, and the love that was showered upon Lee Elder. Life has come full circle for Lee Elder, who joined Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player (as) honorary starters in this 85th Masters, 46 years after he broke the color barrier at the 1975 Masters…Today was all about love and a soft heart, as he described it, and wanting to be an inspiration for the next generation and for all those who love this game.”

Chamblee: “When you see Lee Elder stand up on that tee today, he’s being honored for his significant role in helping change the game for the better. But he didn’t just get there because of his golf clubs. He got there, as Damon Hack just said, because of how he handled those indignities with grace. And that’s because of the content of his character.”

Leonard: “So today, by honoring Lee Elder, this was another step in the right direction for Augusta National and the Masters.”

On the first round

Leonard: “Wasn’t surprised that we had firm and fast greens…Wasn’t surprised we saw some eagles, and wasn’t surprised we saw some bogeys, some doubles, and even triples by one of our players that’s on the first page of the leaderboard. What was surprising was some of the struggles of a couple players in the Top 10 in the world.”

Chamblee on contenders: “It went from 88 in the field to about 10 or 12 having a chance to win this championship…This golf course requires such technical precision and such great strategy that it’s just very rare that you can couple those two. And after the first round, you are very clear at who has their technical skills and who has their wits about them.”

Leonard on the difficulty of Augusta National: “An inch here is like yards at another venue. An inch here makes all the difference – a difference between a seven and a three in Jordan Spieth’s case at 15 today.”

–NBC SPORTS–