Rose again starts strong on a Masters Thursday

Justin Rose has seen his name atop the leaderboard on Friday morning a few times before.

Seeing it through the weekend, though? That’s been elusive.

Rose was tied for the clubhouse lead at 5-under Thursday when he finished but is now three shots behind Jordan Spieth.

“So much can happen around this golf course, and by no means am I worried about going wire-to-wire or anything like that,” Rose said. “I think it’s just about playing good, solid golf, executing my game plan and giving myself a chance on Sunday.”

Rose’s 67 was his best round since he posted 67 in the same round in 2004 – a score that gave him the lead after the first round. He held onto first going to the weekend before falling with a Saturday 81.

His best Masters Tourna­ment finish came three years later in 2007, when, after again leading after Thursday, he finished tied for fifth place.

Surging on the weekend is the one area in which Rose hasn’t succeeded in his quest for a green jacket. That’s something defending champion Bubba Watson, who was in Rose’s grouping, has done before.

With a large gallery following two-time winner Watson’s group, Rose enjoyed something he hasn’t seen much of recently.

“I guess just that little sort of feeling of the spotlight being on you and the pressure there, and you know, the crowd and the energy and atmosphere that you normally get later towards the back end of a golf tournament, I felt like I had that feeling early (Thursday),” Rose said. “It was just a nice bit of energy or adrenaline to really kick start my game.”

Rose’s initial shot on No. 6 left him only 4 feet from the hole for a short birdie. He then holed a 38-foot putt on No. 10 to go to 4-under. Though he bogeyed No. 11, Rose regrouped with birdies on Nos. 13 and 15 – he took advantage of the par 5s.

Going by his play earlier this year, not many could have predicted Rose’s strong start – he missed three cuts in five tournament starts this year.

He made the cut earlier this week in Houston, though his 7-under finish could have been better if he hadn’t shot 7 on the par-4 18 on Sunday.

He didn’t have such a big hiccup Thursday, not that he didn’t lack confidence before.

“You’ve got to believe that you’re a champion. I’m a major champion and won great tournaments,” said Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion. “I knew my game was there; it just had not shown up yet. But yeah, it hasn’t been that big a surprise for me. It’s great to see.”