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AUGUSTA, Ga., April 5 — Justin Rose took only 20 putts.
Masters rookie Brett Wetterich showed no nerves.
On a sometimes blustery, cooler-than-normal Thursday when many players lost their composure and all chance of winning, Rose and Wetterich shot three-under-par 69 to share the first-round lead at the 2007 Masters.
Tiger Woods minimized the damage despite having only his B- or C-game, finishing with a one-over 73, the same number posted by Vijay Singh and three other players. Woods had it to one-under after 15 holes but bogeyed 17 and 18.
"I just threw away a good round of golf," he said.
Justin Rose, who withdrew with a bad back from the CA Championship two weeks ago and hit just five greens Thursday, said: "My short game was unbelievable today ... I put myself in spots where you could up-and-down the ball."
David Howell shot 2-under 70, as did David Toms. Davis Love III got up and down on 18 and was at even par, one of five players at that number, while Augusta native Vaughn Taylor was one of five players at one-under 71.
It was a day in which players racked up the fourth-highest first-round scoring average in the last 40 years, and even the leaders sounded beaten.
"I think the first seven holes I didn't hit a green," Taylor said.
Indeed, with the wind and firm greens confounding most players, the early going was less about the nine under-par rounds than it was about the players who shot themselves out of contention.
Ernie Els, a runner-up in 2000 and 2004 who was gunning for one of the two majors that have eluded him, false-started with a double-bogey on the first hole and shot 78.
