By Phil Casey, PA Sport, Augusta

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Justin Rose picked the perfect practice partner on Tuesday as he began his build up to his US Masters debut.

Rose was among the many players who were denied the chance to get to grips with the Augusta layout on Monday by the first washout for 20 years.

Thunder and lightning, as well as an inch of rain, prevented any practice on Monday and the gates remained closed to fans for the first time since 1983 - costing the club an estimated three million US Dollars (£1.9million) in merchandise sales.

The young Englishman attempted to make up for lost time today however, as he ventured onto the immaculate, if rather wet, fairways in the company of three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo.

The 22-year-old, who earned his place in the field by climbing into the top 50 in the world rankings at the end of last year - he is currently 42nd - had a sneak preview of the course last week instead of playing in the BellSouth Classic at nearby Atlanta.

But he was still keen to learn everything he could from Faldo, the 45-year-old one of only two men to have won back-to-back Masters titles, Jack Nicklaus and defending champion Tiger Woods the others.

In damp and overcast conditions, the duo teed off from the 10th shortly before 9.30am local time (1430 BST) and were followed by Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, with Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer another group behind.

Faldo was quick to pass on his expertise to a player more than half his age as they played Amen Corner, taking a long time pointing out the likely different pin positions on the 11th green.

That of course was the scene of Faldo's first two Masters wins, he holed a long birdie putt in near-darkness to beat Scott Hoch on the second extra hole in 1989, and a par was good enough on the same hole 12 months later after Ray Floyd's approach found the water to the left of the green.

Rose then proved he was a quick learner on the famous par-three 12th hole, hitting a superb mid-iron to within 12 feet of the pin after Faldo's approach had just managed to stop short of the back bunker.

The wet conditions underfoot - greenkeeping staff were out in force spraying a drying agent on particularly wet areas of grass - meant it was much more difficult than usual to get on in two on the 510-yard par five 13th, normally a hole offering a vital birdie opportunity.

After laying up from their initial tee shots, both Faldo and Rose dropped another ball and had a go for the green, Faldo coming up well short in Rae's Creek.

Rose's shot, however, clung on to the bank of the creek, something which would never be seen in dry conditions.

Rose has enjoyed a successful build-up to the first major of the year, making the cut in all three of the US Tour events he has played this season.

He also has three top-10 finishes in his three European Tour events in 2003 and beat former Open champion David Duval in the first round of the World Matchplay championship in California.

Faldo has also been in good form this year, making the cut in all six events he has played, the highlight being a superb second place in the Heineken Classic, one shot behind Ernie Els.