Rose happy with preparations

Justin Rose nearly won The Masters a year ago and now he feels his is fit and ready enough to finish the job this time around.

Rose has held the lead after the first or second round three times in his previous three appearances. He was in contention last year on Sunday but wilted down the stretch and finished tied for fifth.

Now Rose is looking for capture his first major title. He is coming off a stellar season on the European Tour – he won twice and led the Order of Merit - and is looking to fulfill the promise he first showed 10 years ago.

“It’s always a pleasure to be back here, especially after last year being my best-ever finish here at Augusta,” Rose said. “I’ve been excited to get back here for the last few months for sure.”

It was at the British Open at Royal Birkdale where Rose burst on the scene in 1998. He chipped in on 18 to finish fourth as a 17-year-old.

He turned pro the next day and the learning process began.

Rose misssed the cut in his first 24 events as a professional and it took a while for him to snap out of it. He posted his first victory in 2002 and added a second later that season. He did not win again until 2007 in a season that was a breakthrough in more ways than one.

He finished no worse that 12th in each of the four majors and now comes to Augusta knowing what it takes to contend.

“I think the experiences I’ve had here at Augusta have been powerful experiences,” Rose said. “I’ve had good experiences and bad experiences and you learn from both, and that’s the key.

“Last year I felt very comfortable in the hunt all week, really, from day one, I was on the leaderboard, and I felt comfortable with that situation and position and, enjoyed it. Certainly I think the biggest thing about winning a major is believing you can, and last year was key for me in terms of making that step up, really.”

Last year, Rose came to The Masters nursing a back injury and after a prolonged break. Today he is healthy and playing well but is mindful of making sure he does not get to far ahead of himself.

“Last year, I was strangely relaxed because I had no expectations, no pressure,” Woods said. “I was coming off six weeks off and I had no idea how the week was going to pan out. I guess that’s what actually played in my favor last year, and this year, obviously I come in maybe expecting to do better and I guess that’s the thing I’ve got to manage is my expectations and how relaxed I feel and how much pressure I put on myself.”

World number one Tiger Woods has been paired with US Open champion Angel Cabrera and Australian Stuart Appleby for the first and second round at Augusta National.

Defending champion Zach Johnson has a 1023am tee time and is grouped with England’s Luke Donald and Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion.

Padraig Harrington, the 2007 Open champion, starts at 1034 (1534) along with Canada’s Mike Weir and Jeev Milkha Singh of India.

Phil Mickelson goes for his third green jacket this week and starts that quest at 1341 (1841) on Thursday with Andres Romero of Argentina and KJ Choi of South Korea.

Rose, meanwhile, is in the group going out after Woods at 1056, alongside Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Japan’s Toru Taniguchi, while Ian Poulter joins Mark O’Meara and amateur Trip Kuehne out at 0822.