Honorary starter Arnold Palmer tees off at the first hole during the start of the first round of the 2008 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club yesterday. Palmer won his first Masters tournament 50 years ago. - AP

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP):

JUSTIN ROSE and Trevor Immelman shot four-under 68s for the clubhouse lead in the first round of the Masters yesterday.

On a warm, sunny opening day that featured Ian Poulter's hole-in-one, a solid start to Zach Johnson's title defence and Tiger Woods poised for a run at another green jacket, Rose was atop the leaderboard yet again.

In 2004, the Englishman led after the first and second rounds but faded to a tie for 22nd. Returning to Augusta National last year, Rose surged to the front with a 69 yesterday, but didn't come close to matching that score for the rest of the weekend, settling for a fifth-place tie three strokes behind Johnson.

Yesterday, he got off to another quick start.

Chickens

"I've learned you can't count your chickens too early," said Rose, who won the Order of Merit as the top golfer on the European Tour in 2007. "Obviously, the first round has been great to me here."

Woods prefers to do his best work on the weekend. In his four previous Augusta wins, he twice trailed by three shots after the first round, another time by five, and was a daunting seven shots back in 2005.

Woods, who shot a 72, remains the overwhelming favourite to win his fifth green jacket - the starting point for an unprecedented Grand Slam.