Joshua Dobbs will start the finale at QB for the 49ers in place of the injured Brock Purdy

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Joshua Dobbs will start the season finale at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers with starter Brock Purdy out with an elbow injury.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday that Dobbs will get the nod over Brandon Allen for the game on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Allen started a loss in Week 12 at Green Bay when Purdy was out with a shoulder injury, but Shanahan went with Dobbs because of his mobility behind a patchwork offensive line that will have third or fourth-stringers at both left guard and left tackle.

“He’s been great, him and Brandon," Shanahan said. "They've been two good guys to have there. I looked at both of them as the 2 through the year. They both have given really good looks in the scout team. They split reps, and they’re always ready. They both prepare like they're going to be the starter every week. They've been great.”

The Niners (6-10) are playing out the string of a disappointing season with the only thing at stake being draft position. They will pick between 11th and 14th in the first round depending on the results of the final weekend.

Purdy hurt his throwing elbow late in a loss on Monday night in a loss to Detroit. He has a bruise and nerve inflammation, but no long-term issues in his surgically repaired right elbow.

Dobbs spent time with Arizona last season, joining the team late in training camp and then starting the first eight games for the Cardinals. He was then traded to Minnesota when Kyler Murray returned from a knee injury and started four more games for the Vikings.

Dobbs has made 14 career starts, including two for Tennessee late in the 2022 season. He has a 77.5 career passer rating with 15 TD passes, 13 interceptions and 5.8 yards per attempt. He has also averaged 5.5 yards per carry with seven TD runs, including one on the final drive after he replaced Purdy.

Dobbs was 3 for 4 for 35 yards passing on that drive.

NOTES: CB Charvarius Ward returned to the team following the birth of his son, Charvarius Jr., on Saturday in Dallas. ... Purdy was one of several 49ers players not scheduled to practice Wednesday following a Monday night game. TE George Kittle (ankle, hamstring), WR Deebo Samuel (ribs, wrist), DE Nick Bosa (knee), DE Leonard Floyd (shoulder), DE Robert Beal (ankle), OL Colton McKivitz (knee), OL Spencer Burford (calf), CB Deommodore Lenoir (shoulder), CB Isaac Yiadom (pelvis) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) all missed practice. ... WR Ricky Pearsall (illness, chest) and S Ji’Ayir Brown (ankle) were limited.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose managed to steal the attention away from Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the Masters by matching his personal best at Augusta National with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead Thursday in the first major of the year.

Scheffler did his part in his bid to win a third Masters green jacket in four years, playing a bogey-free round of 68.

McIlroy, so desperate to win this major and complete the career Grand Slam, was right there with him until the end. He took a pair of double bogeys late in the afternoon with careless mistakes and had to settle for a 72. It was the seventh straight time he failed to break 70 in the opening round of the Masters.

Rose burst out of the gates with three straight birdies. He added three more around the turn. He was headed for a round nearly 10 shots better than the field average until a poor tee shot into the trees led to his only bogey at the final hole.

No matter. This was a reminder to Rose that his good golf is still very good.

“I'm 44. Golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years, whatever it's going to be,” Rose said. “So your opportunity is less going forward. So you have to make the most of it.”

Rose set one Masters record: The fifth time he has had at least a share of the 18-hole lead, breaking the mark held by Jack Nicklaus. The glaring difference, of course, is Nicklaus has six of those green jackets.

It also was the eighth time Rose has had at least a share of the lead after any round at Augusta National, something only five others have done. All are Masters champions.

“I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament,” said Rose, whose best chance was a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. “I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it. ... But you've got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don't shy away from it.”

Scheffler was 3 under at the turn, including one birdie on the par-5 eighth in which his ball was deep in a divot hole short of the green. He managed to get that out some 20 feet left of the pin and used the slope to bring it back to 15 feet and made the putt.

He was rarely under stress.

“I struggled for what felt like two pars today,” Scheffler said “But other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”

Corey Conners of Canada birdied his last two holes for a 68, and they were joined Ludvig Aberg, the super Swede who was runner-up to Scheffler in his Masters debut a year ago.

U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton carried the LIV Golf flag, both at 69. DeChambeau had seven birdies in his up-and-down day, a show of his scoring power.

“Making some bogeys for me probably frees me up a little bit and says, you know what? Just go out and play some golf,” DeChambeau said.

The roars came early, along with a few shockers.

Fred Couples, who wondered a month ago if at 65 with a creaky back he would still be welcomed to play, became only the second player that age to break par. Couples holed out from the fairway on the 14th with a 6-iron hybrid on his way to a 71. Tom Watson was also 65 — by 28 days he is still the oldest — when he shot 71 in 2015.

The horror show belonged to Nick Dunlap, a 21-year-old who last year won on the PGA Tour as an amateur. This must have felt like amateur hour when he made double bogey on the final hole for a 90. It was the highest score since Ben Crenshaw shot 91 in 2015 at ag 63.

Hideki Matsuyama might have caught the worst break when his approach into the par-5 13th hit the pin and caromed into the tributary of Rae's Creek. The wildest day belonged to Nicolai Hojgaard — one eagle, five birdies, four pars, five bogeys and three double bogeys. Do the math and that comes out to 76.

“It's mentally draining playing a round like this,” Hojgaard said.

And then there was McIlroy, chipping into the water from behind the 15th green for double bogey, and then going long on the 17th and compounding that mistake with a three-putt for another double bogey.

Far more blissful on a warm spring day was Rose, who at one point had it going so well that he felt like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter.

He pitched to 6 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth. He hit wedge to the ninth and used the slope to set up a 5-foot birdie, giving him a career-low 31 on the front nine. That was followed by a 12-foot birdie putt.

“That's when the day felt a bit different. That’s when I felt I was doing something potentially more on the special side,” Rose said.

And then he really began to pull away from the field with a smart pitch away from the water to set up a 10-foot birdie on the 15th, followed by a 20-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. The pins on the final two holes allowed for birdies and Rose was thinking super special. He got par-bogey instead that didn't ruin his mood.

The average score was 73.6. Only six players broke 70, and 20 others broke par.

“Overall, great day," Rose said.. “I played a lot of golf here at Augusta National. So to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me.”

Still three days away is an achievement that so far has eluded him.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf