Justin Rose has held the first-round lead at the Masters twice in the last four years but the thrill of seeing his name at the top of the Augusta National leaderboard was gone on Thursday.

The young Briton has learned it does not count for anything unless it is there on Sunday.

"I learned one day, two days is a long way from winning the tournament," said Rose after an error-free three-under 69 for a share of the lead with American Brett Wetterich.

"I learned how much you have to respect this golf course."

Rose showed great promise when he turned professional as a 17-year-old a day after finishing tied for fourth at the 1998 British Open.

But he would endure a run of 21 missed cuts on the European Tour before achieving a breakthrough win at the 2002 Dunhill Championship.

Rose has yet to win a PGA Tour event but has been in contention many times, including the 2004 Masters when he led after both the first and second rounds before fading.

Last year, Rose finished a career high 47th on the PGA Tour money list but four times failed to follow through with victory after holding a share of lead.

The 26-year-old Englishman believes those lessons could finally pay major dividends.

"Obviously I've put myself in position a lot of times and not quite finished it off," Rose told reporters.

"I think it's certainly something that I can learn a lot from, that experience. Sometimes you learn more from situtations that go badly than when things go well."

Rose ended a victory drought of more than four years on the European Tour by winning the Australian Masters in November but had his Masters buildup hampered by a nagging back injury that sidelined him for six weeks.

"I've worked very hard on my fitness and my rehab in terms of getting myself fit and strong for this week," said Rose.

"I made the decision not to play in Doral because I didn't want to jeopardise my chances of playing here in Augusta."