Rose holds lead at The Masters

Justin Rose ended the second round of The Masters in the same position he started – top of the leaderboard.

The Englishman carded a one-under-par 71 to head into the weekend with a one-shot lead after compiling a two-day total of eight-under-par 136 at Augusta National.

Rose, who finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and lost a playoff to Sergio Garcia in 2017, is one shot ahead of American Bryson DeChambeau, with Rory McIlroy and Corey Conners a further shot back in tied-third on 138.

Rose is looking forward to competing against the elite company, including the likes of McIlroy, DeChambeau and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler over the weekend.

“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career. That’s where I’ve been for a lot of my career. I’ve been a top-10 player in the world for a decade or more so this is nice to be back in that mix, a hundred per cent,” said Rose.

Hideki Matsuyama, meanwhile, is five shots back of Rose in tied-12^th place after posting rounds of 73 and 68.