Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus tees off on the 15th hole during the first round of the Masters. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Jack Nicklaus finishes T31 through 17 as play is suspended due to darkness

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A boyish smile washed over Justin Rose as he walked off the 18th green with another birdie, the perfect finish to an ideal start Thursday in the Masters.

Moments later, a single tear streamed down Tom Watson's face as he mourned the loss of his longtime caddie, Bruce Edwards, who died in Florida of Lou Gehrig's disease about two hours before Watson teed off.

From sunshine to rain, from sadness to joy, the first round of the Masters had a little bit of everything.

Rose, at 23 the youngest professional in the field, started with back-to-back birdies at crusty, tough Augusta National and finished the same way, holing a 12-footer on the last hole for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead over Chris DiMarco and 50-year-old Jay Haas.

DiMarco, the 36-hole leader three years ago at the Masters, provided the biggest thrill when a 5-iron from 196 yards dropped for a hole-in-one at No. 6. He added a two-putt birdie on the 15th, and the rest of his round was all pars for a 69.

The cheers, as usual, belonged to the King.

Nothing rocked Augusta National more than when Arnold Palmer rolled in a 40-foot putt that went up a steep slope and crashed into the pin before disappearing into the cup. Never mind that it was for par, or that the 74-year-old Palmer wound up with an 84 in his 50th and final Masters.

"I would have loved to have made the cut," Palmer said. "I may make it yet, (but) I'll have to quit after nine."

Rose hasn't heard these kind of cheers since he was a 17-year-old at the 1998 British Open, when he chipped in for birdie on the final hole at Royal Birkdale to finish fourth.

He turned pro the next week, then missed 21 consecutive cuts before his game slowly recovered. He has won four times in Europe, and tied for fifth at the U.S. Open last year.

"There were times when you're thinking this is going to be a long, uphill struggle," Rose said. "But the last couple of seasons, I've recently enjoyed the situation I've been in. Hopefully, it's time to move onward and upward even more.

"If you want to be one of the best players in the world, now is the time to start coming through."

Rose played with DiMarco, and the highlight of the round came at the par-3 sixth.

"I hit a great shot into about 4, 5 feet," Rose said. "I was pretty proud of myself -- until Chris got up there."

DiMarco's shot was pure all the way, landing softly about 2 feet from the hole and dropping for an ace.

"Just a perfect shot," DiMarco said.

The rest of his round featured one birdie, 16 pars and -- most importantly -- no mistakes.

Haas was equally solid, and looks capable of becoming the oldest major champion. He made only one bogey and continues to play as though the 50-and-over Champions Tour shouldn't leave the light on for him.

"I'm trying not to think that I'm 50 and I shouldn't be doing this," said Haas, whose uncle Bob Goalby won the '68 Masters. "I don't know that there's a number that, all of a sudden, we decide we can't play anymore."

Darren Clarke and Chris Riley were at 70, while Colin Montgomerie and European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer were another shot back.

Woods teed off about 30 minutes after Rose had posted his 67 and bogeyed the opening hole after pulling his drive into the trees. At No. 5, his second shot hit hard off a mound and rolled about 10 feet into the thick bushes behind the green.

Woods had to grip the club about 12 inches above the blade, and just got out of the jungle. He pitched to 8 feet, but missed the putt to take double bogey.

Another bogey on the par-5 eighth sent him on his way to a 40 on the front nine, and then ...

It rained.

The delay gave him time to cool off, and softened a course that had been frighteningly fast.

Vijay Singh, with his father watching at the Masters for the first time, was at 2-under par and poised to move up the leaderboard until he took a triple-bogey 8 at No. 15, then bogeyed the last two holes for a 75.

Phil Mickelson, whom many consider the favorite to finally win his first major, also was 2 under until he took four putts at the par-3 16th for a double bogey. His first putt climbed out of a hollow but stopped at the crest of a hill, leaving him no choice but to nudge the next putt and watch it roll some 15 feet away.

He wound up with a 72.

"I was three inches away from being six feet from the hole," Mickelson said. "But that's going to happen to everybody. I thought it could have been a much better score."

John Daly made double bogey on both par 3s on the back nine for a 78. Shigeki Maruyama was even par at the turn, then didn't make a par until the 18th hole. He shot 46 on the back nine for an 82.

Watson, meantime, finished with a 76 and then spent an hour sharing memories of his longtime caddie, who continued to work for him last year despite being in the throes of a disease for which there is no known cure.

Watson missed the cut last year at the Masters, and Edwards cried in the parking lot at Augusta National.

"He thought that was going to be his last Masters," Watson said. "Of course, it was."