Justin Rose draws on Seve magic with opening 67 at Augusta, Rory McIlroy posts 71

On a day when the two-time Masters champion from Spain would have turned 58, Rose emerged from a mini slump to card a five-under-par 67 at Augusta National.

Ballesteros, who inspired a generation of European golfers, died in 2011 of a brain tumour.

Englishman Rose, 34, recalled the encouragement he received from Ballesteros during his Masters debut in 2003.

"I remember Seve coming up to me and putting his arm around me, just giving me an encouraging couple minutes of pep talk," Rose told reporters. "He was always very good to me out on tour (and) sort of a hero of mine growing up."

Rose was joined on five-under by Ernie Els - who dropped a shot on the 18th - and Charley Hoffman.

Fatigue got the better of reigning champion Bubba Watson during a protracted opening round as he hit errant tee shots on the last two holes to card a one-under-par 71.

The American left-hander, who is seeking to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only players to win consecutive green jackets, did well to salvage par at the 17th where he chipped in from just off the green.

However, he bogeyed the par-four last after his second shot sailed way left, sending several fans who had been sitting close to the green scurrying out of the way.

"The last two holes you could just tell I got a little tired," Watson told reporters after finishing four strokes off the early lead. "It took five hours 15 minutes to play golf.

"Both my tee shots were way to the left, I just shoved them. I was not committed, not focused. Other than that, it was a good day. It's a major championship. I missed a few putts here and there, three-putted twice."

World number one Rory McIlroy also carded a 71 to put himself in the mix, a score matched by 65-year-old Tom Watson who won the Masers in 1977 and 1981.

Rose arrived in Augusta seemingly out-of-form, but he warned not to read too much into his recent disappointing results.

"I'm a major champion and won great tournaments. I knew my game was there; it just had not shown up yet," said the 2013 US Open champion, who has never missed a cut in nine Masters appearances.

"I didn't have a ton of form but it doesn't surprise me.

"I wasn't that happy with where my swing was at about a month ago ... but when you have a little bit of a struggle, it forces you to make a decision to work a little bit harder, and that's what I've done about the last month."

Not that Rose is reading too much into one round, not with 54 holes remaining, and almost every one of them potentially the scene of disaster.

"So much can happen around this golf course, and by no means am I worried about going wire-to-wire or anything like that," he continued.

"There are so many shots out there, especially around Amen Corner, that can ruin a scorecard, so there's really no point in getting ahead of yourself."