Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishJustin Rose smiles with his caddie Mark Fulcher on the first green during the first round of the 2025 Masters. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) (Andrew Redington via Getty Images)AUGUSTA, Ga. — For some, Justin Rose will forever be the 17-year-old kid who nearly won The Open Championship way back in 1998. Boyish then and, 27 years later, boyish even now, Rose is still knocking on the door at major championships.AdvertisementHe opened Thursday’s Round 1 at the Masters by going birdie-birdie-birdie, leapfrogging everyone on the leaderboard — including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Five more birdies later, he’d carded a stellar 7-under 65 to hold a 3-stroke lead (with players still on the course) after 18 holes.It’s familiar ground for Rose, who’s been a steady constant for two decades — always good, though never as great as maybe we expected him to be when he burst onto the scene at that ‘98 Open. Probably the expectations were too high, thinking that making a run as a teenager meant he’d be winning them soon thereafter.But, in fact, his first major win didn’t come for another 15 years, when he overtook Phil Mickelson to win the 2013 U.S. Open. That victory wasn’t so much of a breakthrough for Rose as it was relief. Unlike fellow countryman Lee Westwood, he finally got his major.From there, year after year after year, Rose put himself in position to win another. In 2015, he finished T2 at Augusta, sixth at The Open and fourth at the PGA Championship. Just once since has he completed a major season without a top-10 finish, and three more times he’s finished runner-up. That includes a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia at the 2017 Masters.AdvertisementPut yourself near the top of the leaderboard enough times and you’ll win one here and there, or so the thinking goes. That hasn’t been the case for Rose, but here he is, now 44, doing it again.After those three birdies to start his round, he carded three more at Nos. 8, 9 and 10, then two more at 15 and 16.The only blemish on his card came at 18, where he drove it in the trees, punched out, then barely missed a 20-footer for par. Still, it was good enough to push him three shots clear of Scheffler, who shot (for him) a ho-hum, bogey-free 68, as well as Rory McIlroy (who is still on the course) and Corey Connors.
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