Justin Rose told the course who was boss Thursday in Augusta. (Redington/Getty Images)

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Somewhere, the ghost of Harry Cooper -- eight times the low International player in this event -- is smiling. Certainly, Nick Faldo (still very much alive, we might add) must be thrilled. As are golf fans back in London, Manchester, Liverpool and the rest of England.

That's because the English invaded the Masters leaderboard after Thursday's first round. Led by Justin Rose's 4-under 68 that made him the co-leader with South African Trevor Immelman, Her Majesty's golfers are at least in position to end their drought at Augusta National, now at 11 years since the last of Faldo's three Masters titles in 1996.

One shot back of Rose is fellow countryman Lee Westwood, despite having to play his last two holes in darkness, a development that had the BBC guys livid. Another shot after that is ace-maker Ian Poulter. Another stroke back is Paul Casey. That's four Englishmen among the 18 players under par after opening day.

Oh, and if we're talking Brits, you can throw in Scotland's Sandy Lyle, who must have seen a ghost of his former Masters-winning self by carding an even-par 72, which ties for his best opening-round score this decade at Augusta National.

It appears the Brits came to play. Maybe they'll be the ones to break the European drought that has existed at the Masters since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal slipped his arms into his second Green Jacket in 1999. Rose, however, doesn't want any part of it.

"I think there's enough pressure without having to pile all of the pressure of a whole continent on your shoulders," he said. "I think we are all out there for ourselves. I don't mean that badly, but I mean, I'm out there because I want to win the tournament."

Padraig Harrington -- an Irishman -- started all this talk about a European turnaround by claiming the British Open last summer. Or as Rose quaintly put it, Harrington "broke the duck."

Let's see who's quacking on Sunday.

TOUGHEST HOLE: The 440-yard seventeenth hole played as the most difficult in the first round with an average score of 4.372, yielding just three birdies. There were 54 pars, 36 bogeys and one double bogey.

EASIEST HOLE: Not surprisingly, the 510-yard par-5 13th hole played as the easiest on Thursday at an average of 4.670. One eagle was made there, along with 39 birdies, 46 pars, six bogeys and two double bogeys.

SHOT OF THE DAY: No contest. Poulter scored a hole-in-one at the 170-yard 16th hole with an 8 iron, the ball diving 25 feet away from his pitch mark. The colorful Poulter was ecstatic over his ace -- the 19th in Masters history.

"There's an instant adrenaline rush," he said. "That's probably the biggest adrenaline rush I've had. It was a great buzz."

Tiger's eagle on No. 15 saved his round. (Squire/Getty Images)

SHOT OF THE DAY II: Tiger Woods shot an even-par 72. If he goes on to win this Masters, people might point back to one particular shot -- one that saved his first round.

After a boring first 12 holes of pars, Woods made consecutive bogeys on Nos. 13 -- a par 5 -- and 14. He then found himself just left of the green in two on the par-5 15th hole ... and promptly got back to even par with an unlikely chip-in for eagle.

"It was a pretty easy little pitch," explained Woods, as only he can. "It was straight uphill. The ball was sitting up. It was pretty soft underneath there and just had to carry it far enough, and it went in."

Thursday marked just the second time Woods has played a round in the Masters without a birdie. The only other occasion came in the first round of 2003 when he shot a 4-over-par 76 and eventually finished in a tie for 15th.

DISAPPOINTING START I: Tiger Woods aside, loads and loads of people had Australian Geoff Ogilvy penned in as an early favorite to win the Masters. After all, it was Ogilvy who halted Tiger's consecutive TOUR wins streak at Doral in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship a few weeks back.

However, Thursday turned out to be a tough start for Ogilvy. He went around without a single birdie. With a double-bogey on No. 10 and a bogey at No. 12, he limped in with a 3-over-par 75.

Does this mean he's out of the tournament? Absolutely not. But it does mean that he has an awful lot of work to do to get back into it.

"It's not a one round tournament," Ogilvy said. "It's not the end of the world, it just makes it harder. I had more shots than I wanted to have. What can I say, I didn't have any fun, I shot 3 over. I just putted bad. What can I say, I didn't make any birdies and I made some mistakes out there I didn't want to play this bad but I did. What can you say?"

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "No birdies, a double bogey and a bogey. Three-over par. Nothing very exciting about it." -- Geoff Ogilvy, clear and to the point, on his disappointing start.

DISAPPOINTING START II: Every golfer admits to dreaming of winning the Masters. Few actually get to tee it up in the prestigious major championship.

Imagine the fantasy it must be for the likes of Charles Howell III and Vaughn Taylor -- Augusta natives -- to tee it up here. Larry Mize, another Augusta bred golfer, had his career-defining moment when he famously chipped in from 140 feet on the second playoff hole in 1987 to defeat Greg Norman. Talk about a dream come true.

Aside from a tie for 13th in 2004, Howell hasn't exactly given the home crowd a whole lot to cheer about at Augusta National. That unfortunate trend continued, as Howell struggled mightily to a 6-over-par 78. It was Howell's eighth consecutive competitive round without breaking 70.

Arnold Palmer shot his ball straight into the foggy beyond Thursday morning. (How/Getty Images)

QUESTION OF THE DAY: For the second consecutive year, Arnold Palmer was the honorary starter at the Masters, striking the tournament's first shot at 7:50 Thursday morning. So the question is: What happens to the ball after that ceremonial opening tee shot?

On Thursday afternoon, I accidentally found out. Just before the entrance to the press building is the enormous merchandise building where you can buy everything from Masters hats, to Masters shirts, to Masters oven mitts, to Masters salt-'n-pepper shakers. Across the cart path from there is a mini Masters museum. This museum houses the various pieces of crystal that players are given during the tournament -- a vase for the day's low score, a large bowl for a hole-in-one, a pair of goblets for an eagle, etc.

Against the back wall are several display cases. In the second one, labeled "Amen Corner" there are photos of the fabled three-hole stretch. Laying at the bottom of the case, sitting on a tee on top of a plaque, lies a No. 3 Callaway golf ball with the Arnold Palmer umbrella logo. The inscription on the plaque reads: 2007 Masters Opening Shot By Arnold Palmer, Thursday, April 5, 2007.

So, there you have it.

In another case, defending champ Zach Johnson's shirt, hat, glove, shoes and scorecards from 2007 are all on display.

This is my 10th Masters and I never knew that all those goodies were within a 60-degree wedge from where I sit. You learn something new everyday.

LOOKING AHEAD: The four groups I'll be keeping an eye on in Friday's second round:

• 8:33 a.m. Boo Weekley, Trevor Immelman, Sean O'Hair. Immelman was the best of the bunch on Thursday, his 4-under-par 68 making him the co-leader with Rose. Weekley, making his Masters debut, got around in even-par 72, the same score as O'Hair.

• 10:34 a.m. Phil Mickelson, Andres Romero, K.J. Choi. Mickelson didn't do anything to hurt his run at a third Green Jacket after a 1-under-par 71. Romero, who earned his first PGA TOUR win two weeks ago at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, is in good shape after an even-par 72, which matched Choi.

• 1:30 p.m. Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy. Johnson shot a 2-under-par 70 on Thursday, an outstanding start to his title defense. Donald settled for a 1-over-par 73, while Ogilvy will have work to do after his 3-over 75.

• 1:52 p.m. Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera, Stuart Appleby. Woods starts four shots off the pace. Cabrera had a 73 but is capable of many birdies in any given round thanks to his length off the tee. Appleby, who had the 54-hole lead a year ago, has a lot of ground he'll need to gain on Friday if he hopes to make the cut after opening with a 76.