Justin Rose Talks Return from Back Injury After Opening-Round 65 at Masters

Even Justin Rose was surprised by his 65 in Round 1 of the Masters Thursday.

The first-round leader jokingly described his effort as "decent" when discussing the performance afterwards:

"I didn't know where my game was coming into this week, to be honest with you," Rose said. "I had a month off, haven't played competitive golf for a good four weeks."

The English golfer sits seven strokes under par for the tournament, four strokes ahead of Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama in second place.

While major tournament success is not too shocking for Rose, the start is impressive considering his recent back injury.

Rose was forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March due to back spasms, leaving in the middle of the third round. A week later, he dropped out of The Players Championship.

He said he could have played in the last two tournaments but instead focused on the Masters.

This strategy appears to have paid off so far as he seeks the first green jacket of his career.