Masters 2016: Justin Rose recovers from thorny start to record a solid opening round - and Lee Westwood is 'pleased' to shoot 71

Selecting a new putter and changing his grip only a week before the Masters was not a decision Justin Rose took lightly. ‘It was a gamble,’ he said here on Thursday after shooting an impressive opening round of 69. ‘But it was one that I felt was worth taking.’

He was in a rather fancy facility he has had installed at his Bahamas home called a SAM PuttLab when he opted to make the change. ‘I had my putting coach, David, over there last week and we were just toying around in the lab at my house, getting some numbers on my stroke,’ he said.

‘In my golf room I have a stash of putters. We were just sort of going through a few different options just to see where we were at.

England's Justin Rose acknowledges the crowd's applause after a birdie on the 13th hole at Augusta

The 2013 US Open champion - who finished joint second in the Masters last year- had a solid opening round 

Englishman Lee Westwood (right) three-putted the final hole to finish on one under par after his first round

‘I was certainly putting and stroking it quite nicely with my putter, but when I picked up the bigger‑grip style putter with the mallet and went to the claw (grip), or the saw or whatever you want to call it, I just really noticed that the stroke felt a lot smoother, and then thought that was interesting. Then the numbers on the SAM PuttLab were incredible. There was a big spike, a big improvement.

‘So it was kind of a mixture of feel and science telling me it was something that was working for me, and then I continued to practice with it the remainder of the week.’

Even so, he was a little anxious about doing something quite so radical so close to such a major event. ‘I questioned it,’ he said. ‘Obviously coming into Augusta you question a decision like that. But the end of the day, I felt that with how I was putting, I was putting okay. I was putting fine. I was going to putt fine this week, but I felt like there was improvement to be had, and obviously you make these decisions based upon trying to win a golf tournament, not just trying to keep it status quo.’

Westwood said he was 'really pleased' to be under par after his first round and is happy with the way he played 

Clearly Rose is not here to finish second again. He is here with the ambition of winning a second Major and the manner in which the 2013 US Open champion secured six birdies, with some Jordan Spieth-style finishing, gives him confidence. ‘I made some distance putts, some putts over 20 feet,’ he said. ‘I probably made at least three of those. That kind of always smartens up a scorecard when you're making some putts of length. I think that's probably what was the difference between a steady day and a good day.

‘I holed a good one on the first from about 20 feet, then about 25 feet at the third and about 30 feet at the 10th. And then I putted solidly apart from that.’

Even through the rose-tinted glasses he was sporting, things did not always look that positive for Rose. Not least after taking a bogey on the second.

66-year-old Tom Watson, the legendary eight-time major winner, shot 74 to start his final Masters appearance 

A wayward second shot that drifted wide of the greenside bunker and into the crowd left Rose with the kind of chip that terrifies amateur golfers. A huge expanse of white sand to clear and very little green to play with beyond. And Rose played it like an amateur too, cutting his wedge under a ball that flopped all too meekly and finished up short even of the bunker. Three more shots would follow, a bogey six taking him back to level par.

But Rose, accompanied by Jamie Donaldson and Daniel Berger, responded quite magnificently. While his playing partners opted for the safety of an iron off the third tee, Rose pulled out his three wood and cracked his ball some 40 yards beyond them. A solid second shot would follow, and then the delightful putt that put him back at one under. ‘Yeah it was aggressive,’ he said afterwards. ‘But why not?’

This golf course has proved a tough track for the Europeans, and even more so for the British. Not since 1999 has a European pulled on the Green Jacket, with Nick Faldo the last British winner 20 years ago.

Reigning champion Jordan Spieth took an early clubhouse lead with a near-flawless round of six under par

Lee Westwood, home in 71 after three-putting the 18th, said he was delighted to at least see a healthy contingent of Europeans – among them Ireland’s Shane Lowry and the English trio of Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Danny Willett as well as Rose and Rory McIlroy – very much in contention at the end of the first day. ‘We’re all trying hard to put that right,’ Westwood said of that poor European record since the turn of the century.

Westwood seemed happy enough with his day, with the news that a horse he co-owns with Alan Shearer and Ant and Dec taking second at Aintree improving his mood further still. ‘Was Augusta Kate named after the golf course?’ he was asked. ‘It’s a long story but yes,’ he replied, that deep tanned face breaking into a smile.

Nick Faldo, the three-time Masters champion, was the last Briton to wear the green jacket in 1996

He was particularly satisfied to be among six British players who finished below par in what were blustery conditions under near perfect blue skies. ‘It was tough out there,’ said Westwood. ‘There were no real gimme holes so I’m delighted.’

Perhaps most encouraging for the Europeans was how well they were coped with these greens. On the eve of the tournament Faldo suggested they were central to the problem. ‘They don’t have greens like this in Europe,’ said the three times Masters champion. That did not appear to matter.