Read Ewan Murray's report of day one
That’s the end of a wonderful day for Justin Rose, who was two over through 7 before picking up nine strokes in his last 11 holes. A brilliant opening-day 65 sets up yet another green-jacket bid for the Englishman ... but there’s plenty of talent on his tail, and three days of golf still to play. Thanks for reading this live blog. Nighty night!
-7: Rose
-3: Harman, Matsuyama
-2: Zalatoris, Simpson, Bezuidenhout, Reed
-1: Kim, Kokrak, Lowry, Hatton, Spieth
E: Thompson, Kisner, Champ, Schauffele, Rahm, Hughes, Leishman
A closing par for Jordan Spieth, who will be happy with that 71 after his shenanigans in the trees and on the green at 9. Were it not for that triple-bogey, he’d be right on Justin Rose’s tail. But as things stand, he’s six shy. Plenty of golf still to be played, though. Morikawa pars as well to sign for a 73, while Smith can’t get up and down from the side of the green and cards a 74.
Spieth creams a lovely second into the centre of 18. Pin high, with a 15-foot look at birdie coming up. Morikawa meanwhile replicates Sandy Lyle’s famous shot of 1988, the ball spinning back down the green. Unfortunately the flag’s not in the same place. He’ll be putting up onto the top shelf.
Tony Finau never quite had the wind behind him today, but a par at the last gives him a two-under 74. Par for Justin Thomas as well, and he’ll be happy with his 73 having gone out in 30. He’s +1. Par for Louis Oosthuizen, too; a 76 for the perennial major-championship bridesmaid. Meanwhile back up on the tee, Spieth and Morikawa split the fairway.
Par for Spieth at 17, who remains at -1. But Morikawa, still reeling from events on 15, ships a shot to slip back to +1.
Thomas salvages his par at 17 after that wayward drive. He remains at +1. Up on 18, DeChambeau sends his second just over the back, but rolls his putt stone dead from 50 feet. He’ll sign for a 76. And back to 17, Spieth finds the green in regulation, setting up an outside chance for birdie.
It’s been a dismal day for Patrick Cantlay. One of the hot tips coming into the week, the 29-year-old American has endured a shocker, putting his name to a 79. Last year’s joint runner-up Im Sung-jae didn’t fare much better. Going well at two under through 8, he dropped strokes at 9 and 10, before running up a quadruple bogey at 15 where he found the drink twice. A 77. Of the three-ball, only Matthew Fitzpatrick can be reasonably happy, though he’ll rue dropped shots at 16 and 18 en route to his 74.
Yesterday in practice, Bryson DeChambeau tugged his drive at 18 into the trees, the ball rebounding back towards him. About 70 yards in total. Today, the results are much better, as he gives it everything, landing his ball past the far bunker. That’s a 340-yard uphill carry. At +4, with little having gone right for him today, he may have decided to unleash bedlam for the rest of the week, however long that may last. What a drive!
Justin Thomas has quietly been repairing his round after a slow start, having gone out in 39. Birdies at 10 and now 16, and he’s suddenly back to +1. He gets a big stroke of good fortune at 17, too, his drive heading towards trees down the right but taking a twang back out into the first cut.
A birdie for Phil Mickelson at the last. The old campaigner signs for a three-over 75. His partners Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler both par, carding 74 and 73 respectively. Nobody quite out of it quite yet.
Morikawa does indeed trundle his eagle effort aggressively towards the 15th cup. Too much. It rolls four feet past, and he fails to make the one coming back. A par that’ll feel like a couple of dropped shots, given his partners Spieth - and now Smith, who tidies up - have both made eagle. Spieth is -1, Morikawa level, Smith +1. How Quickly Everything Can Change At Augusta, pt. 896,372 in an ongoing series.
Spieth lobs from the back of 16. He’s given it too much juice ... and if it doesn’t hit the hole it’s heading for the water ... but the ball curls unerringly towards the flagstick, hits it, and drops for eagle! All of a sudden, the 2015 winner is suddenly back in credit at -1! He has the good grace to whip his cap off and look extremely sheepish. But extremely happy too. When the luck comes your way, accept it with open arms. And in any case, full marks for line, right?
Morikawa sends his second pin high, and he’ll be able to have an aggressive run at eagle without worrying too much about the water. But Spieth’s second goes over the back, and he’ll be chipping up from Lowry Country. Danger ahoy! Although how about this from Cameron Smith, last year’s joint runner-up and the third member of this final match? He’s been quiet so far, +3 for his round, and rolls the dice, arrowing his second from 200 yards to a couple of feet! He’ll surely make an eagle that’ll make his day seem suddenly much more productive!
A slight the-bar’s-shut feel to the party right now, in the wake of Rose’s 65. Nothing much is happening right now in the few groups still out there. But in the final match, Spieth and Morikawa are both in prime position up the middle of 15, so some hot birdie action could be ours to enjoy soon.
Tyrrell Hatton makes it to the house with three pars, and he signs for a highly impressive one-under 71. There’s no point looking at things through the Rose prism; he’s well positioned to launch a bid for a green jacket, and doesn’t have the pressure of leading the field by four strokes. This is what the chasing pack will be telling themselves this evening.
At long last, a birdie for Bryson DeChambeau. It comes at 15, one of the holes you’d expect him to pick up a stroke, and he doesn’t bother celebrating. In fact, he looks utterly defeated and disgusted with himself. But at +4 - if you discount the outlier Justin Rose - he’s not too far away from where the action is. Still more than three days to go, after all.
Justin Rose speaks to Sky. “I guess the good news is I don’t know what happened, and that’s when you play your best golf, when you get into that flow ... this was a day not to play yourself out of the tournament ... to be nine under for the last 11, you can never quite see that coming here, but that happened because I didn’t panic when I was two over after seven.”
So here are the 11 players currently under par. Plenty of big-name players who could still break into this elite clan, including Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas. The first round isn’t over yet!
-7: Rose (F)
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Reed (F)
-1: Kim (F), Kokrak (F), Lowry (F), Hatton (17)
Rose signs for 65
In goes the par putt. He’s home in 30 strokes, just like Gary Player on Sunday in 1978. Not bad company to be in. He was nine under par for the last 11 holes! Just 54 more and that elusive green jacket could be his. No birdie, so Craig Wood’s five-shot first-round lead in 1941 remains the Tournament record, but he’ll certainly be leading after day one, meaning he ties Jack Nicklaus’s record for most first-round leads or co-leads in the history of the Masters.
Rose’s birdie effort is his poorest shot since the 7th hole, always dying on the left. He’s left himself with three feet of work for his par. Before he finishes off, Lowry rolls in his birdie putt and puts his name to a fine 71. Then Rose steps up and ...
Yet another delicious shot by Justin Rose, who gently sends his second at 18 pin high. He’s left himself a 15-foot look at birdie, but most importantly is on the top ledge, where the flag is planted. His playing partner Shane Lowry is up there too, with a similar length birdie putt to move into red figures. Rose’s will be for a 64.
Here’s Ewan Murray on Rory McIlroy accidentally clocking his old man at the 7th earlier today.
Updated
Hole-in-one for Tommy Fleetwood!
A crystal bowl will soon be in Tommy Fleetwood’s possession, the reward for sending his tee shot at 16 bounding straight at the flag and into the cup! It’s the 32nd ace in Masters history, and suddenly a poor day turns into a memorable one. He’s +2 and right back in this Tournament!
No worries! When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Rose pearls his drive straight down the middle of 18. Three shots from here, and it’ll be a par for a stunning 65 on a day when low scoring looked a pipe dream. Up and down, and he’ll be back in 29.
Max Homa, who won a sensational play-off against Tony Finau at the Genesis Invitational earlier this year, is going along nicely again. Birdies at 13 and 14, the latest rattled in at supersonic speed, brings the 30-year-old Californian up to +1. And up on 17, Rose rolls in yet another birdie putt, and he’s now nine under for the last ten holes! This is straight out of the top drawer ... but the tee shot at 18 is coming up, and he’ll have some scar tissue there, this being the one that cost him in the play-off with Sergio Garcia in 2017.
-7: Rose (17)
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
Rose sends his second at 17 to five feet from 150 yards. This is turning into one of the great back nines in Augusta history. Meanwhile more hi-jinx with Spieth, who sends another drive miles right, this time at 13, before threading his second through an avenue of trees and back out onto the fairway. His fate at 9 hasn’t fazed him at all!
Tyrrell Hatton has burst into life. Not quite in the style of Rose, but not far off. He’s just birdied 13, 14 and 15 to spring into red figures. All of a sudden he’s -1, the tenth player now under par. A bounceback birdie for Shane Lowry at 16, too, deserved reward for a tee shot swished elegantly to four feet. He’s level par, and how he’d have snatched your hand off to be here now, when he was watching his third stroke racing towards the water like a mouse making off with a piece of cheese.
While Spieth sighs in disbelief at the par-three 12th, Rose is celebrating at the par-three 16th. He swishes his tee shot straight at the flag, leaving himself an uphill six footer, and that’s yet another birdie. This is a quite astonishing burst of scoring ... and he’s crashed his drive at 17 straight down the track as well.
-6: Rose (16)
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
Spieth is this close to bringing himself back to level par at 12. He sends his tee shot over the flag, the ball stopping on the fringe at the back. He then rolls his ball to the very edge of the cup. Had the Titleist logo been stamped on using one drop more ink, it would surely have toppled into the hole. But somehow it stays out. Wow. He taps in for the par that keeps him at +1. What he’d have given for that on Sunday in 2016.
Jason Kokrak signs for a one-under 71, having birdied the last in magnificent style. Having split the fairway with his drive, he wedges to the width of a dimple from 150 yards. How the ball stayed out, having pitched just to the right of the cup and turned carefully towards the hole, is not clear. He’s not too worried, though, cupping his ear to hear the cheers from the patrons as he kicks in and becomes one of only nine players currently under par.
An up-and-down from greenside sand at 15 for Justin Rose, and that’s yet another birdie. He’s seven under for the last nine holes! What a run! Meanwhile back on 13, Matt Fitzpatrick makes bounceback birdie to haul himself up to level par again.
-5: Rose (15)
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
Matt Fitzpatrick could only bash his second at 12 to 15 feet. A bogey, his second in a row, and he slips back to +1. No great sickener given the break he got with his tee shot. Not so fortunate: Shane Lowry at the back of 15. He gently strokes a chip up from the back and watches in horror as it dribbles across the glassy green, down the hill on the other side, and into the drink. So unfortunate. He drops and tries again, this time caressing it to a couple of feet. That’s limited the damage to bogey, and he slips to +1.
Bryson has made some tough par savers today, but not this time. Another dropped stroke, at 12, and at +5 he’s stomping off towards the 13th, perhaps considering a therapeutic thrash down the par-five.
Bryson looks his gift horse in the mouth. Putting from the fringe at 12, he doesn’t give his effort enough oomph and it only just struggles onto the putting surface. He’s left with a downhill 15-footer for par, and he can’t get going today at all.
A late surge up the leader board from Jason Kokrak. The 35-year-old has no record to speak of in the majors, apart from a tie for 17th in last year’s US Open. In his only previous Masters appearance, he failed to make the cut. But he’s just birdied 12, 15 and 16 to rise serenely to level par.
Bob MacIntyre makes it home in 74 strokes. A strong finish included an absurd chip-in on 17, lobbing high over the bunker guarding the front right of the green and into the cup. Mickelsonesque. Meanwhile a big break for Bryson DeChambeau on 12, as he sends his tee shot into the azaleas at the back, only for his ball to spring out and nestle on the fringe.
Spieth bounces back from the fiasco at 9 by picking up a shot at the hellishly difficult 10th. The birdie was all about his second shot, creamed into the heart of the hard-to-hold green, though the 20-foot putt that dropped wasn’t too shabby either. He’s back to +1, and it’s possibly worth pointing out that nobody has won the Masters having taken a seven somewhere since Craig Stadler in 1982.
Rose can only send his second at 14 over the back, and his chip up is a little clumsy, racing 15 feet past the cup. But he makes the putt coming back, stubbornly refusing to give up his lead. At -4, he remains one clear of Brian Harman and Hideki Matsuyama, both back in the hutch.
Matt Fitzpatrick channels his inner Freddie Couples, landing his tee shot at 12 on the bank, the ball refusing to roll back into the creek. This trick is slightly less jaw-dropping than the one that helped Couples win in 1992, the ball plugging rather than defying gravity as it rolled to a stop down the hill, but he’ll take the lucky break. Still a tricky up and down from the hazard, though.
There are only eight players currently under par ... but there are another 12 at level par. In the hut, the likes of Kevin Kisner, Cameron Champ, Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm, all nicely positioned. Still out on the course at level, Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland, Shane Lowry, Im Sung-jae, Matt Fitzpatrick and Collin Morikawa. This is slowly shaping into a mighty fine Tournament, with plenty of others within striking distance to make a move on the day before Moving Day.
Meanwhile up on the par-five 13th, Justin Rose eases his third to six feet and rolls in for yet another birdie. That’s four birdies and an eagle in his last six holes, and he becomes the first player to reach the heady heights of -4. For how long, who knows, because his tee shot at 14 toys with the trees down the left, and he’ll have to manufacture a shape to find the green from there. But this is where he is right now.
-4: Rose (13)
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Reed (F)
-1: Kim (F)
An astonishing two-putt par for Collin Morikawa, who sends his second into the top left of the 9th green. It’s almost impossible to get close, and his downhill left-to-right breaker trundles 40 feet past the hole. No matter, because he absolutely rattles the one coming back into the cup. Par saved! He laughs incredulously, and hits the turn in level-par 36. Spieth meanwhile chips to four feet, only to pull his bogey putt way left. That’s gone five feet past ... and the one coming back lips out on the right. Suddenly that’s a triple-bogey seven, and he crashes down to +2.
While all that was going on, Im Sung-jae was shedding another shot, this time at 10. He’s back to level par. Coming behind him, Bryson DeChambeau, who leaves himself a treacherous downhill 30-footer for birdie. Realistically he just wants to make par, but nearly tickles the putt into the cup. Such good feel. He tidies up for his par and remains at +4, just about hanging on in there with the par-fives coming soon.
Farcical it is. He shoves his iron almost straight right, the ball clattering loudly off the middle of a tree trunk and pinging to the left. He’s still in the forest ... though this time in a clearing, and there’s potentially a route to the green, if he hits a low 3-wood or 4-iron under the branches. At least that’s what he seems to be considering with his caddie, the equally cavalier Michael Greller. Whip! Crack! He sends a 4-iron out of the bother and towards the fringe of the green, then saunters up the fairway twirling his club with the relaxed air of a man popping down the shops for the paper and a pint of milk. Up and down for bogey, then. What an escape that would be!
Spieth has found his original tee shot. There’s a route out, though he’ll need to thread a precise low iron through a bagatelle route of tree trunks. Few players this side of Seve or Phil Mickelson would even consider this nonsense, and it’s one of the reasons why Spieth is one of the great entertainers and so good to watch. This is either going to be sensational or utterly farcical. Here we go!
Exactly how long Jordan Spieth will remain in red figures is a moot point, because he’s just sent a wild slice into the thick nonsense down the right of 9. “Oh my goodness!” He’s forced to play a provisional, because he’s not guaranteed to find that. He sends his second rock down the left-hand side of the fairway, but one way or another, this looks like damage limitation now.
Nothing much had been going right for Fleetwood’s compatriot Tyrrell Hatton, either, turning in 38. But he’s just run a chip in at 11 from 50 yards, and that takes him back up to +1. Meanwhile Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa both birdie 8 to move to -1 and level par respectively, while Justin Rose clips his tee shot at 12 pin high to six feet and rolls in for yet another birdie that gives him a share of the lead. What a charge by Hampshire’s finest!
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F), Rose (12)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Reed (F)
-1: Kim (F), Im (9), Fitzpatrick (9), Spieth (8)
Tommy Fleetwood has rather surprisingly been a non-event so far. Bogeys at 2, 4 and 6, and the most famous Evertonian on Tour turns in 39. He’s now +3 through 10 and could do with a little something happening on the upcoming par fives at least.
A decent par for Rose at 11. He found the pine straw with his drive, but sent a heatseeker into the front of the green. Par wasn’t a given, though, especially when he raced an overly aggressive first putt six feet past, but he knocked in the return and remains at -2. No pictures on the card, huh. His partner Shane Lowry, coming off a double at 10, stems the flow with a par of his own to stay at level par.
Word of Matthew Fitzpatrick. The 26-year-old from Sheffield has made the cut in five of his six visits to the Masters, and he’s just turned in 35. A dropped stroke for his playing partner Im Sung-jae, though, and he’s also making the turn in one under.
Reed chips up cutely to six feet, but his par putt breaks right at the very last, and that’s a disappointing end to his round, having sent his drive down the middle of the fairway. A 70, and he’s one of only 11 players under par. Only two have so far carded a sub-70. Paul Casey will be happy enough with his one-over 73, while Daniel Berger settles for a 76.
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Reed (F), Rose (10)
-1: Kim (F), Leishman (12), Im (9), Fitzpatrick (9)
But Reed pulls his second wide left, getting a little too aggressive in going straight for the pin. He’s down the bank to the side, with not much green to play with. He’d grab a par with both hands now. Shortsided, he might even settle for bogey. Meanwhile back on 8, DeChambeau pays the price for that wild drive. Always out of position, he makes bogey and trudges off to contemplate dropping down the standings to +4.
Another birdie for Justin Rose! The two-time runner up sends his second at the difficult 10th pin high to 25 feet, then strokes in the birdie putt. He’s picked up four shots in the last three holes, and suddenly at -2 he’s right in the mix! See also the co-leader Patrick Reed, who has just blootered a big fade around the trees to the right of 18, and is in Position A to send an approach close.
You’ll have noticed last year’s joint runner-up Im Sung-jae creeping onto the end of that leader board. That’s the result of a fine birdie at 8, secured with a soft-handed wedge from 50 yards to kick-in distance. Meanwhile Rory McIlroy signs for a 76. The green jacket almost certainly remains elusive, and it shows as the pain washes across his face.
The 2018 champ Patrick Reed keeps on truckin’! He sends his second into the heart of 17, in regulation, then tramlines a 35-footer for a second birdie on the bounce! He’s a wee bit fortunate that his ball hit the hole, because that would have flown a good 10-15 feet past. But he gets his reward for accuracy. Few spoke of Reed before this week, but now look.
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F), Reed (17)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Lowry (9), Im (8)
“Son of a gun, Bryson!” DeChambeau channels his inner Osmond, cursing in sweet, family-friendly style as he sends a hysterical slice into the pines down the right of 8. A lay-up at best.
It’s three bogeys in a row for Leishman, never in position at 11. He slips to -1, yet another illustration of how it can quickly go very wrong at Augusta. See also: Dustin Johnson, the reigning champ sending his chip from the left of 18 long, leaving his long par putt three feet short, and watching in horror as his bogey putt horseshoed out. He eventually tidies up for an ugly six, and the double bogey drops him to +2. A 74. That’ll cause him severe emotional tumult, all caused by that wild drive. Three bogeys and a double today, and he’s already dropped more shots in this opening round than he did during all four back in November.
Birdie for Patrick Reed on 16, and the 2018 champion moves serenely to -2. He allows himself a wide grin, as does the reigning Open champ Shane Lowry, who follows birdie at 7 with another at 9. He joins Reed, a shot off the lead, while Lowry’s partner Justin Rose birdies 9 as well, having caressed his second to four feet. Meanwhile Paul Casey arrests a dramatic decline; having turned in 33, after making eagle at 8, he dropped strokes at 11, 13, 14 and 15. But he’s birdied 16 to get back to level par. After a quiet period, there’s been a little bit of movement on the leader board.
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (F), Bezuidenhout (F), Reed (16), Leishman (10), Lowry (9)
-1: Kim (F), Rahm (17), Rose (9), Im (7)
Thomas can’t make his birdie putt on 6. In the end, after racing his effort five feet past, he does well to escape with par. He remains at +2. Up on 18, Dustin forces his second out of the trees, across the fairway, and into the second cut on the left. He’ll have a tricky up and down for his 72 from there.
DJ sends a huge slice into the pines down the right of 18. His ball nestles behind a trunk; he’ll do well to get that back out onto the fairway and leave himself a clear line to the green. Up on the dancefloor, Christiaan Bezuidenhout nearly drains a 20-foot birdie putt, but he’ll be satisfied with his par and an opening round of 70. A par for Webb Simpson too, and he’s signing for a 70 as well. They’re -2. Bogey for the third member of the group, though, and Sergio’s signing for a four-over 76. Oh Sergio!
Justin Thomas is this close to acing the 6th. As the ball shaves the side of the hole, he holds his head in his hands and yelps in disbelief, so sure was he that the ball would drop. The ball rolls ten feet past so he’s not guaranteed to get any reward for that now, but let’s see.
Speaking of which, Leishman drops another stroke, the result of flaying his tee shot at 10 into the pine straw down the left. Not so long ago he was leading this Tournament on his own; now he’s back in the pack at -2.
More bother for Bryson, who having dropped three shots in his previous two holes, faces a tricky 12-foot slider for his par on 6. But in it goes. He’s made a couple of missable putts to limit the damage on the last couple of holes to bogey-par. A momentum shifter? On these treacherous greens, expect nothing, though at least it’s arrested his slide down the standings.
You’ll have noticed the lack of players taking a run up the leader board. Conditions are getting pretty tricky now, with the wind up and the greens getting ever firmer. They’re like sheets of glass right now, with pars, never mind birdies, coming at a premium ... so having just typed that up, Justin Rose bundles a lovely second shot into the heart of the par-five 8th, curling his ball in from the left to ten feet, then tidying up for eagle! He’ll get some top-drawer crystal for that, but more importantly he’ll move back to level par. You’re welcome. Pulitzer, please!
Brooks Koepka ends with a couple of pars, and that’s an opening day 74. For all his ring-rusty travails, the four-time major winner is still only five off the current lead. A birdie for Xander Schauffele at 15; he’s -1. And on 4, Jordan Spieth pushes a par tiddler wide of the cup and drops back to level par. That’s extremely careless.
A three-putt bogey for Dustin Johnson on 16, and he slips back to level par. He’s not played particularly well today, so escaping with a 72 won’t be the end of the world for the defending champ. Meanwhile birdie for McIlroy, only his second of the day, at 15, and he’s +4, while another of our bogey-happy European favourites, Sergio, picks up his first stroke of the day at 16. He’s +3.
Bryson DeChambeau, then. All that talk of his taming Augusta National with his power game, but it’s the famous old course doing a number on him. After opening with three pars, he doubles 4 after finding a bush with his tee shot and only just managing to chop out. Then he finds more nature, down the left of 5, and that leads to a bogey. He’s +3 and not in a particularly chipper mood right now.
Ah right, well I’m glad I trotted all of that out when I did. Leishman misses a par tiddler at 9, and drops back into a share at -3. Meanwhile par for Matsuyama on 18, and he’s signing for a fine three-under 69.
-3: Harman (F), Matsuyama (F), Leishman (9)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Simpson (16), Bezuidenhout (16)
The best Webb Simpson can do at 16, having got wet, is a double bogey. That means Marc Leishman is in the lead on his own at -4. Leishman was one of the smart bets going into this week, with a fine record at Augusta: he tied for fourth in 2013, and has finished ninth and 13th in the last three years. He also tied a Tournament record here last year, playing the par-five holes to an aggregate score of -15.
Justin Rose has finished runner-up twice at Augusta, in 2015 and 2017, and ran Zach Johnson close in 2007. His bid this year hasn’t got off to the best start: bogey at the opening hole has been followed up by a three-putt bogey at 7, and he’s +2. Mind you, it could have been worse; the par putt that lipped out rolled six feet down the green, and he did extremely well to stroke in the bogey effort.
So we missed this earlier. When Rory McIlroy sent his second at 7 from one set of pines to another, he also managed to clout his dad Gerry with his ball! His round today hasn’t required any additional farce, but there it is, all the same.
Bogey for Hideki Matsuyama at 17, and that costs him a share of the lead. It looks like Marc Leishman will have sole ownership of it in a couple of minutes, because Webb Simpson has just found the water with his tee shot at 13. He allows himself a wry smile, not least because conditions are beginning to get even trickier, the wind picking up and swirling, the greens getting even firmer.
Spieth and Morikawa make their birdies at the inviting par-five 2nd; they’re -1. Cam Smith has to settle for par however, and remains level. Early days, of course. Time is running out already for McIlroy, though; his dip into Rae’s Creek at 13 has cost him yet another shot, and he’s +5. He could be forgiven for already turning his thoughts to next month’s PGA. That’ll be played at Kiawah Island, where he lifted the Wanamaker Trophy in 2012. That it’s come to this for Rory on the first day at Augusta.
The three-time champ Phil Mickelson has started nice and steadily. Birdie at 2, and he’s -1 through the first five holes. At 50, he’d smash the record set by 48-year-old Julius Boros at the 1968 PGA for oldest major winner if he makes it this week. He couldn’t, could he? If anyone can pull a rabbit out of the bag, it’s Lefty.
Koepka is the only one of the three to make his short birdie putt at 16. Back-to-back birdies bring him back to +2, and perhaps his decision to come back early from injury, because it’s the Masters, isn’t quite so daft at all. Bubba remains at level par, Hovland +1.
Hovland is this close to holing in one at 16! He lands his tee shot into the heart of the green, allowing the right-to-left camber to bring his ball down towards the cup. It shaves the side of the hole before stopping six feet back. Despite going so close, it’s not a gimme, but what a shot. Bubba (E) and Brooks (+3) follow him close. All will have putts for birdie. Compare and contrast with Rory McIlroy, forcing it at +4, finding Rae’s Creek at 13. He holds his head in his hands, processing the fact that his career-slam dream is already close to kaput for yet another year.
Viktor Hovland has been the personification of pure entertainment since running up that triple bogey on the 1st. He hauled himself back to level par through 6, only to drop back to +3 with bogeys at 9, 10 and 12. But he’s just birdied both of the back-nine par-fives, and the one at 15 in particular was a doozy: a poor second sent down the slope over the back, a chip chunked, then a long putt raked into the cup at speed. Lucky that hit the hole, because goodness knows where it would have ended up otherwise. He laughs modestly, knowing he’s gotten away with one there. He’s a great player to watch. He’s +1.
Justin Thomas, who swaggered his way to the Players last month, was one of the hot pre-tournament favourites. But he hooked his drive at 2 into the pines, and having been forced to take an unplayable, is reasonably happy to escape with a bogey. He’s +1. Birdies for his playing partners in this penultimate group, though: both Louis Oosthuizen and Tony Finau move to -1.
A miserable end to Kim Si-woo’s round. Bogeys at 15 and 16 bring him back down to -1, but you can be sure he’d have been happy enough with an opening 71 at the start of the day. Meanwhile his compatriot Im Sung-jae, who sensationally tied for second here on debut last November, is going nicely again; he made 24 birdies last year, and he’s already got two this time round after three holes. He’s -2 in short order.
Cameron Smith knows what he’s doing around Augusta National. He tied for fifth here in 2018, while last year he shot four sub-70 rounds to tie for second. He’s opened his round this afternoon with a steady par, as has his playing partners in the final group of the day, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth, who isn’t too shabby around here himself. These final groups will be well worth sticking with.
Birdies for Webb Simpson at 12 and 13, and here’s how the leader board looks right now.
-4: Matsuyama (14), Simpson (13), Leishman (7)
-3: Harman (F), Bezuidenhout (13)
-2: Zalatoris (F), Reed (11), Casey (11)
No eagle for DJ, his putt on 13 refusing to break right, but birdie will suffice. He’s in red figures for the first time this week at -1. His playing partner Lee Westwood can only par, and he remains at +6, taking his leave of the scene with a flustered face.
The defending champ Dustin Johnson was going nowhere fast through 10, but that chip-in on 11 for birdie has reinvigorated his round. Par at 12, and now he’s crashed his second into the heart of the par-three 13th, setting up a 15-foot eagle opportunity.
Thanks Luke. A hell of a leader board forming already. A lot of cream rising. Some big names having a miserable time of it too, though: Jason Day, Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy are all +4, Lee Westwood is +6. Brooks Koepka is quietly falling away too; a creek-drenched bogey at 13 slips him to +3 and that injury lay-off doesn’t appear to have done him any favours. A big couple of hours to come for some of the game’s top names, if they’re to salvage their bids.
Scrolling down the leaderboard, Strafaci has collapsed to +7, Westwood is now +6, while Day and Garcia are all +4 for the day. Ouch.
And with that, I will hand you back to Scott Murray.
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Brian Harman finishes his round with a birdie for a 69 and moves to the group of players on -3. And now Leishman moves to -4 after six holes, sinking a monster uphill birdie putt at the par three! He is tearing it up.
-4 Matsuyama (13), Leishman (6)
-3 Harman (F), Simpson (12), Bezuidenhout (12), Casey (9)
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With an errant second at the 13th, Bubba Watson ends up with a fiendish chip from virtually under a bush at the back of the green. He takes out a five-wood instead of trying to chip or putt and pushes the ball first through the thick fringe, then down the ludicrously speedy putting surface. It’s a smidgen overhit but it stops - just - on the fringe on the opposite side of the green - and he knocks in the putt, allowing himself a gentle fist bump in celebration. That was a crazily good up-and-down from where he ended up after his second, in one of the worst possible spots around that green. That takes him to -1.
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Hideki Matsuyama becomes our new outright leader on -4. This is despite the fact that he nearly sends his second shot into Rae’s Creek at the 13th. Luckily for him, that second shot (which is slightly short and right) bites into the steep bank by the water, and stops. He makes a good fist of an insanely tough chip, which bounces and rolls back down the hill towards the flag, and drains the putt for a birdie. Well played.
Meanwhile, Webb Simpson rolls in a fine birdie putt at the par three 12th to move to -3.
-4 Matsuyama (13)
-3: Simpson (12), Kim (13), Bezuidenhout (12), Casey (9), Leishman (5)
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Despite being dressed like an ice cream, the champion Dustin Johnson has just holed a stunning uphill chip at the 11th, which moves him back to even par. That is absolutely class. He raises both hands in celebration before the standard fist-bump with his caddie.
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Si Woo Kim has just bogeyed the par-five 15th, a cardinal sin, and drops back out of the group of leaders on three under. He overclubs his second shot over the water by quite some distance, then sends his chip, in the opposite direction, into the drink. C’est la vie. To give him his due, he hits a superb chip from the drop zone and will take the bogey.
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McIlroy endures more trouble, self-inflicted, by three-putting at the ninth. He’s +3.
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Casey eagled the eighth in stunning style to move to three under, crushing a long iron to eight feet, above the hole, and rolling in the eagle putt with minimum of fuss.
Paul Casey and Marc Leishman have now moved to -3! Leishman hits a magnificently-judged long birdie putt from off the green at the fourth, balancing the pace to perfection, allowing the ball to break from left to right and nestle into the hole. At the third, he’d already holed a seven- or eight-footer which stopped on the lip of the cup and dropped in. What a start.
-3: Zalatoris (15), Kim (13), Matsuyama (10), Bezuidenhout (9), Casey (8), Leishman (4)
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Koepka, sporting a shocking pink cap, hits a putt with a big right-to-left break from just off the green at 11. But he doesn’t give it nearly enough pace and it dies away well before the hole. He’ll have another putt for his par - and he makes it - from four feet or so. He’s +1 for his round.
A chip-in for Ian Poulter from a while back, over on Masters Twitter. He’ll be finished in time to watch the Arsenal game, so things are looking up all round.
Sky Sports just indulged in some lengthy analysis of McIlory’s driving technique, but thankfully we’re back to the live pictures now, in time to see McIlroy himself play a good approach shot to 18 feet or so at the ninth.
A chip-in for birdie at the par-5 13th for Ian Poulter. #themasters pic.twitter.com/KZRWbvurND
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2021
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McIlroy birdies the eighth, and he’s back to +2, after three straight bogeys before that.
Thank you, Scott. I join the action with Tyler Strafaci having a horrible time at the par-four ninth. He had an impossibly fast putt from just off the back of the green, which he barely touched but ended up rolling allllllll the way off the putting surface, and he’s just had to chip back on. Classic Augusta. He ends up taking a double bogey six, and goes to +3.
Zalatoris has dropped back to -2 now leaving three players on -3: Kim, Matsuyama and Bezuidenhout.
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Right, that’s me off to tuck into a large bowl of Hamburger Helper, the only food-flavored foodstuff to be marketed by a performing golf glove. Luke McLaughlin will take you through the next hour. See you again soon!
Will Zalatoris eagles 15! A perfect drive down the middle, and a second hit from the best part of 200 yards to ten feet. He rolls in the putt without fuss, perfectly paced, and the young Californian joins the leaders. Some fine crystal heading his way. Kim Si-woo joins him in the leading group by following his birdie at 12 with another at 13.
-3: Zalatoris (15), Kim (13), Matsuyama (10), Bezuidenhout (9)
-2: Simpson (9)
McIlroy looks a busted flush already, his hunt for that career slam likely to continue for another 12 months. He sends his tee shot at 7 into the trees down the left. He can’t manufacture a hook out, and sends his second way right of the green. His chip is no good, and two putts later he finds himself already in bother at +3. Yet another awful start to a major tournament. This is becoming old.
A much-needed birdie for Lee Westwood. It comes at the par-five 8th, the signature shot of his four being a slightly frustrated but ultimately beneficial lash with a fairway wood from sand. He’s back to +3 ... though pulling his drive at 9 into the pines down the left doesn’t suggest a sustained salvage job is on the cards. He gets a lucky bounce out into the first cut, but that’s not the ideal angle to be approaching the green.
Robert MacIntyre hits his first bump in his Augusta career, coming off birdie at 2 to record bogey at 3. He’s back to level par, and on the subject of the 24-year-old from Oban, here’s Nick Lewis: “Interesting piece in, well, ahem, another newspaper, today about young Bob’s Shinty background. A lot of the lads at my club, Kyles of Bute are or were Shinty players. It was my great misfortune to be sent out with a couple of these young blades on a medal last year. Inky and Goat. Jings, crivens, help ma boab (me neither) can the buggers hit it a distance. Pro length off the tee, I swear. Something about that natural swing they’ve been doing since age three. Intimidated? Not ‘arf, sailor. Not sure I’ve recovered yet.”
Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, has been enjoying a late career resurgence. A win at the unofficial fifth major, the Players, came in 2018. He’s finished in the top ten at the US Open on two of the last three occasions, and in the top ten here at Augusta in the last two years. The 35-year-old North Carolinian is going along nicely today, as well, birdies at 7 and 8 taking him to within a shot of Matsuyama and Bezuidenhout’s lead.
-3: Matsuyama (10), Bezuidenhout (8)
-2: Kim (12), Simpson (8)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout joins Hideki Matsuyama in the lead at -3. A birdie at 8, the result of a gentle chip from 50 yards to three feet, takes him there. A dropped shot for Viktor Hovland at 9, the result of a three-putt from an impossible position on this famously warped green, means he’s turning in 37. He’d have taken that while walking off the 1st after that triple bogey. Meanwhile Brooks Koepka turns in level-par 36, having responded to dropping that stroke at 7 with birdie at 8 and solid par on 9. Bubba, the third member of that group, also turns in level par.
The early starters are beginning to make it back to the clubhouse. Michael Thompson, the 3M Open winner, cards a level-par 72, his round salvaged by good work on the par fives coming home: birdie at 15, eagle at 13. His playing partner, the early leader Hudson Swafford, signs for a one-over 73. Matt Jones, having dropped five strokes in six holes between 9 and 14, turns it back around with birdies at 16 and 17, and cards 74. And our hero Sandy Lyle? An 81. The 63-year-old legend won’t be making the weekend.
Bernd Weisberger has played at Augusta five times before, and made the cut on each occasion. Back-to-back birdies at 2 and 3 suggest the 35-year-old Austrian is in the mood to keep this quietly impressive sequence in tact. He’s -2 in double-quick time. Lee Westwood however continues to trend in the other direction, dropping yet another stroke, this time at 7, to slip to +4.
An early birdie for Scotland’s great hope Robert MacIntyre. He joins the big group at -1 through 2. Not such good news of his fellow Celt, Rory McIlroy, who pulls a short par putt wide at 5, then sends his tee shot at the par-three 6th down the bank. He doesn’t get particularly close with his bump and run, and he drops to +2.
Will Zalatoris is making his first competitive start at Augusta, and the 24-year-old Californian is going around very nicely indeed. Back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 have taken him up to -1, just a couple off the pace, and he’s unlikely to be overawed by the position he’s found himself in. He recently finished in the top 20 at the Players, and at last year’s US Open at Winged Foot, made a hole-in-one during his first round, and was inches away from making another. His antics led to his tying for sixth at the end of the week. A player very much worth keeping an eye on.
A huge par save by Dustin Johnson on the par-three 6th. Having sent his tee shot over the back, he’s faced with a putt up a steep bank. It only just gets up onto the putting surface. But he steers in a 20-footer to remain at +1 and rabbit-punches the air gently. That could be a momentum shifter. Meanwhile up on 10, another big putt, as Kevin Kisner rattles in a 35-footer for birdie on one of the hardest holes on the course. That’s taking the best part of a shot and a half from the field, and he’s -2. Kisner has had some near misses in the big tournaments, coming close at the 2015 Players, the 2017 PGA and the 2018 Open. Another major tilt coming up?
Could this finally be Paul Casey’s year? He’s come so close, so often. The veteran Englishman - 43 now, would you believe it, despite those boyish looks - guides a lovely wedge into 3, to six feet from 80 yards, using the right-to-left camber of the green to set up his first birdie of the week. He joins the group at -1, but he’s still two shots off the lead, because on the par-five 8th, Hideki Matsuyama has just knocked his second to 20 feet from 245 yards, and made the eagle putt! He leaps into the lead, and if Casey’s overdue a major at 43, the same can be said of the comparatively youthful 29-year-old Japanese star. He’s got to win a big one at some point. He’s just got to. Sunday?
-3: Matsuyama (8)
-2: Kim (10), Conners (10), Bezuidenhout (6)
-1: Munoz (13), Kisner (9), Ancer (8), Rahm (4), Reed (4), Casey (4), Gay (2), Hughes (2)
It’s been pars all the way for Rory McIlroy through the first four holes. A slight grimace as he walks off 4, having left an uphill 25-footer a couple of turns short. Still, it could be worse. Lee Westwood sends a clumpish chip miles past the hole at 5. Bogey, and he’s already +3. Bogey for his playing partner Dustin Johnson as well; he’s +1. Two bogeys after five holes for the defending champion, and he’s already run up 50 percent of his 72-hole total back in November.
Brooks Koepka zig-zags up the 7th like the Keystone Kops. Tee shot in trouble left, second sent miles right. He does well to bundle his third onto the putting surface from an awful position, but can’t get anywhere close. He leaves a 40-footer five feet short, and does well to guide the right-to-left bogey slider into the cup, limiting the damage. But that’s a distinctly average start to the week from one of the pre-tournament favourites. Perhaps, given the recent work on his dodgy knee, that’s to be expected? He’s +1.
The in-form Corey Conners joins the leaders at -2. A third birdie of the day, stroking his second at 9 from 150 yards to four feet, and he turns in 34. Meanwhile some early birdies for major-championship hopefuls Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm, as well as 2018 winner Patrick Reed, and the leader board is beginning to drip with delicious quality.
-2: Kim (9), Conners (9), Bezuidenhout (5)
-1: Thompson (16), Kisner (8), Matsuyama (7), Ancer (7), Schauffele (3), Rahm (3), Reed (2)
Compare and contrast with Sergio, who has let another shot slip, this time at 4. That’s three bogeys in his opening four holes, and he’s +3. But as Hovland has demonstrated, things can turn around quickly at Augusta. See also Matt Jones, who was hovering around the top of the leader board during the early exchanges, -1 through 8. Since then, he’s shipped five strokes in six holes, the latest at 14, and he’s +4. Only poor, heroic, beloved, beleaguered Sandy Lyle, and the 23-year-old English amateur Joe Long, are below him on the leader board, both at +8.
Victor Hovland is a sensational talent. That triple on the 1st seems an awfully long time ago now that he’s confidently trundled in a 25-foot birdie putt on 6. That’s three birdies in the last five holes, and he’s back to level par, having had no truck whatsoever with the concept of collapsing!
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Augusta National is not giving many shots away this morning. The course is long and hard, the greens cut to the quick. Dustin Johnson’s record score of 20 under par, set five months ago, looks to be safe this week. Especially as the wind is picking up already, and is expected to become an issue later this afternoon. The course is likely to play a little softer later in the week, mind you, with a chance of rain later today, thunderstorms expected tomorrow, and more rain to come at the weekend ... though much depends on which weather service you prefer and/or trust. Other forecasts are available.
Lee Westwood takes 4-iron off the tee at the short par-four 3rd for position .... and flays it into the woods to the right. What a business. He then clips the trees coming back out, and he’s eventually left with a monster putt for par. His effort trundles 15 feet past and he can’t make the saver coming back. A double bogey, a dismal return on one of the easier holes on the course. He’s +2.
A par-par start for career-slam chasing Rory McIlroy. It was a real mixed bag at the 2nd, where he wanged his drive deep into the woods down the right. A forensic 200-yard stinger through the branches put him back into position, and his chip left a ten-foot birdie putt, but he misread it horribly, so par had to do. Meanwhile up on 5, an absurd up-and-down by Hovland from the huge bank at the back saves his par. He’s holding on magnificently at +1.
Hudson Swafford continues to go backwards, flaying his drive at 14 into trees. Another bogey, and the very early pacesetter is now +1. Given the 33-year-old Floridian’s record in the majors - four appearances between 2010 and 2017, four missed cuts - you’d expect his story to be over. But hey, he can always say he once led the Masters.
Dustin Johnson bounces back from his bogey start with birdie at the generous par-five 2nd. The defending champion returns to level par. Meanwhile there’s now a third player sharing the lead at -2: the excellent young South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who birdies 2 and 3. He’s playing the Masters for the second time, having finished in the top 40 last November. Another opening round of 69? The foundations are there ... and South Africans have a fine record around this track, with winners in Gary Player, Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel, plus the nearly men Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen.
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Kim Si-woo plays the par-four 7th in a most acceptably boring fashion. A straight drive, a second arrowed to 25 feet, the putt sent directly into the cup. Easy, right? The brilliant young Korean joins Abraham Ancer in the lead at -2.
Sergio can only chip out from the filth to the right of 2, and the errant drive ends up costing him another stroke. A bogey-bogey start for the 2017 champion. Meanwhile another dropped shot for the early leader Hudson Swafford, who makes a heavy-handed mess of a bunker shot at the iconic par-three 12th and slips back to level par. Here comes Gary Naylor, with a bucket of salt for that wound: “I always think of Eurovision when a little-known player bags a couple of early birdies to lead the Masters. First round and the Latvia entry picks up douze points from Lithuania and the camera picks them out while the techs try to fix the link to Valetta for the next jury’s allocation. And there they are, gurning away, thumbs up, warm generic champagne in hand. Half an hour later, they’ve got five more points and you spot them on a pan round the room, heads down, sucking teeth, obscurity ushering them into its warm embrace.”
Another birdie for Viktor Hovland! He makes it at 3, and has repaired most of that opening-hole damage in short order. He’s +1, and suddenly his trademark smile is looking a little less bittersweet. Meanwhile someone else who had made a slow start, with bogey at 1, is Henrik Stenson. The 2016 Open champion has bounced back with birdies at 2 and now 8 to move to -1, just a shot off the leader Ancer.
-2: Ancer (4)
-1: Stenson (8), Kim (6), Conners (6), Kisner (6), Day (5), Matsuyama (4), Bezuidenhout (2)
Sergio, then. He spent his first few minutes of this Masters hacking his way through the trees down the right of the 1st. In the end, he did pretty well to escape with a bogey. However his radar appears to be beyond wonky today, because he’s just flayed his drive at 2 into the jungle down the right. That is abysmal. So much for the formbook, and his top-ten finishes at the Players and the WGC Matchplay.
An opening bogey for defending champ DJ, who sends a hot second through the back of 1. He can’t get up and down from a tricky spot. Meanwhile Lee Westwood knocks his approach to eight feet, but pulls the putt wide left. A par to start, which he’s none too pleased about; compare and contrast with the amateur Ty Strafaci, who is more than happy with his.
A fine bounceback birdie for Hovland at 2. His second came up short, but a chip to ten feet, followed by a gently steered left-to-right putt, brings him back to +2. That’s shown some moxie. Pars for both Bubba and Brooks, and they remain at level. Meanwhile ahead on 3, Abraham Ancer birdies to snatch sole ownership of the lead at -2.
Corey Conners finished in the top ten last November, ensuring his return today. The 29-year-old Canadian dropped a shot on the opening hole, but has bounced back with birdies at 3 and 5 to join the leading group at -1. He could be worth keeping an eye on this week, having finished strongly recently at the Arnold Palmer and the Players, and putting in a steady performance at the Texas Open last week.
Here comes the defending champion! Dustin Johnson takes to the tee at Tea Olive, and gently sweeps a hybrid down the track. He’s going round with Lee Westwood, who pushed Phil Mickelson all the way in 2010, and really should have finished the job in 2016, only to crumble while Danny Willett set about seizing the day instead. His drive splits the fairway. Making up the three, the 2020 US Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci, who whistles a nerveless opening shot down the middle. All good.
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After spurning a chance to move to -3 at 8, Hudson Swafford topples back to -1 after bogey at 10. He joins an eight-strong pack that also includes Ian Poulter (5), Kim Si-woo (4), Kevin Kisner (4), Jason Day (3), Cameron Champ (2), Hideki Matsuyama (2) and Abraham Ancer (2).
On Sky, Wayne Riley reminds everyone that Hovland needn’t throw in the towel quite yet. That’s because Tiger went out in 40 on his first professional spin around Augusta, and still ended up winning the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes. You can’t deny it’s a precedent, I guess. Anyway, the young man crunches his drive down the middle of 2. This hole has been giving up birdies this morning, and a four here would make him feel an awful lot better after that appalling start.
A thin-lipped smile plays across Hovland’s face as he whistles his chip straight through the 1st green and over the back. This is turning into a very troublesome start for the Norwegian, whose short game is notoriously shaky. He clips back towards the hole, but that flies six feet past. He prods with great uncertainty at the putt, and it’s a disastrous triple-bogey seven. Pars for Koepka and Bubba.
Some movement at the top of the leader board. Kim bogeys 4 to drop back to -1, where he’s joined by perennial Masters bridesmaid Jason Day, who birdies 2 along with his playing partner Cameron Champ.
-2: Swafford (9)
-1: Jones (8), Kim (4), Kisner (3), Day (2), Champ (2)
Bubba’s up against the face of the bunker, but whips his hands high and the ball into the centre of the green. That’s a hell of a shot, finished with a flourish. Koepka follows him on in regulation. No such luck for Hovland, who smacks a branch when taking an over-ambitious line from the woods on the left, and is forced to punch his third back out onto the fairway. He’ll need to get up and down from 60 yards for bogey.
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Anyone up for some Bubbagolf? It’s Augusta in April, of course you are. He takes his 3-wood off the 1st for safety, and sends it into a bit of bother down the right. He’s out and about with Brooks Koepka, who came so close here in 2019. A huge break for the four-time major champ, who flirts with the bunker down the right but gets a friendly kick back onto the fairway. And making up the three-ball is the exciting young Norwegian Victor Hovland. This is the 23-year-old’s first appearance here as a professional, though back in 2019 he was the low amateur, shooting par 72 or better in every round. He tugs his drive into the trees down the left, and off he trudges. Trouble ahoy.
Kim makes his second birdie of the day at the short par-four 3rd. A lovely clipped chip to kick-in distance, and he joins Swafford in the lead. Kim’s Masters record is promising: the 25-year-old Korean’s last three appearances have seen him finish in ties for 24th, 21st and 34th. A player coiled, ready to spring?
-2: Swafford (9), Kim (3)
-1: Jones (7), Schwartzel (3), Kisner (2)
Birdies at 2 for the 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel and the 2017 Players winner Kim Si-woo. They join the steady Matt Jones in second spot at -1. Meanwhile here’s our first email of the week. “Looking down the tee off times I am struck by some of the wonderful names that have crept into this year’s Masters. Come Sunday, will we be watching the triumphant final putt of Cameron Champ, or will Abraham Ancer have figured out the solution to winning the green jacket? Will Mike Weir(d) sport plus fours on his head or something equally bizarre? Will CT Pan’s brother Peter caddie for him and help him avoid Hook shots? As you might imagine, my favourite is the appropriately named Harris English, but please don’t tell me he’s an American.” Rick Harris there, who, seeing we’re doing monicker-related whimsy, presumably doesn’t go by Richard because he’s fed up of people asking him if he’s left the cake out in the rain.
Poulter hands the shot straight back. A weak approach to the par-four 3rd topples off the bank at the front of the green, and he only just gets up onto the dancefloor with his next chip. Two putts and he’s back to level par. Meanwhile a big opportunity passes by the leader Swafford; he’s on the par-five 8th in two, and lags a lovely 80-foot eagle effort to four feet. But he tugs the birdie putt wide, and his lead remains one stroke at -2.
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Ian Poulter has never seriously threatened to win the Masters, yet his record here isn’t bad at all. He’s got three top-ten finishes to his name, in 2010, 2012 and 2015, and he tied for 12th a couple of years ago, only five shots shy of Tiger after a disappointing final round of 73. The veteran Englishman - 45 years old now, believe it or not - is off to a good start today; his birdie at 2 brings him into a tie for second, one of only three players in the red. Three putts at 1 for Danny Willett, though, and there goes a carelessly dropped shot.
-2: Swafford (7)
-1: Jones (6), Poulter (2)
Sandy’s round goes from bad to worse. He follows that quad with bogeys at 5 and 6; that’s seven shots gone in four holes. He’s +6. It can happen to the best of them at Augusta National. Probably best to leave him in peace now, but he’s a good hook on which to hang news of some other past Masters: the 1985 and 1993 champ Bernhard Langer, who shot an opening-day 68 back in November, has bounced back from bogey at 2 with birdie at 3; he’s level par. The 1991 winner Ian Woosnam dropped a shot at the opening hole and is now +1 through 4. The 2011 champ Charl Schwartzel has parred the 1st. And the surprise 2016 victor Danny Willett has just split Tea Olive down the middle with his first shot of the week, and found the green in regulation. More green jacket owners to come in short order.
The lull before the storm. While we continue to wait for the big names to hit the first tee, here’s Andy Bull on the heartache of missing the Masters.
Things turn sour quickly for poor Sandy at Flowering Crab Apple. And how. He sends his tee shot at the long par-three 4th into sand at the front of the green ... then thins his bunker shot through the green and into the azaleas. His next, from a drop zone, flies back over the green, and he ends up with an ugly quadruple-bogey seven. That’s the first thundering disaster of the week, and damn straight it won’t be the last. Lyle crashes to +4, but hey, he’ll always have that 7-iron into 18 all those years ago.
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The previous Masters may only have been held five months ago, but you may wish to reacquaint yourself with this famous course, where every hole is an icon. Our man Ewan Murray talks you through five crucial Augusta National tests, and there’s a link through to Tommy Fleetwood’s guide as well. There are also diagrams and snacks*.
* Snacks are off
Pink Dogwood, the downhill par-five 2nd, is historically one of the easiest holes on the course. It’s already given up five birdies today, the latest by 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink, who is experiencing something of a renaissance this season, having landed the Safeway Open, his first title on Tour in a dozen years. Cink gets up and down from the bunker guarding the front-left of the green, and joins Jones at -1.
Another birdie for Hudson Swafford, who takes sole ownership of this very young leader board. He’s -2 through 4, and now two ahead of our Sandy, who goes over the back of the short but testing par-four 3rd and can’t get up and down. He slips back to level par. Matt Jones, winner of the Honda Classic a few weeks back, is the only other player currently under par.
-2: Swafford (4)
-1: Jones (3)
Oh Sandy! How could I ever have doubted you? This approach isn’t quite up there with his famous bunker shot at 18 to see off Mark Calcavecchia in 1988, but it’s pretty darn good for a 63-year-old campaigner. Lyle, a prodigious long hitter in his pomp, doesn’t quite have the length now, and he’s hitting his third into the par-five 2nd from 115 yards. He eases it to four feet, and tidies up for birdie. It’s on! Again! C’mon Sandy. Let’s enjoy this while it lasts.
-1: Swafford (3), Lyle (2), Jones (2)
E: Thompson (3), Herman (1), Cink (1)
The dream dies! Hudson Swafford, here as winner of the last Corales Puntacana Resort Club Championship, birdies 2 to knock Sandy out of the lead. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. That’s the first red number of the week, for the record, and will calm the 33-year-old’s nerves; Swafford has only played here once before, failing to make the weekend after shooting 77 and 76. A neat up and down from 40 yards saw him good here. His playing partner Thompson birdies the hole as well, to move back to level par.
-1: Swafford (2)
E: Thompson (2), Lyle (1), Jones (1), Cink (1)
It didn’t take long for the first bogey of this year’s Tournament. Step forward Michael Thompson, who sent 2021’s opening drive into a fairway bunker down Tea Olive, and it was all uphill from there for last year’s 3M Open champion, competing in his third Masters. However in the group behind, Alexander Walter Barr Lyle makes par, which means the hero of 1988 is technically leading the Masters. Some pedants will argue that’s not saying much with five players having completed one hole, but facts are facts and here we are.
E: Swafford (1), Lyle (1), Jones (1)
+1: Thompson (1), Frittelli (1)
The ceremonial opening drives have been hit by the Honorary Starters. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player are here as usual, but this year they’ve been joined by 86-year-old Lee Elder, who made history in 1975 as the first black player to compete in the Masters. “This by far exceeds anything that has ever happened to me in golf,” Elder says, a statement that carries some weight from a player who won four times on the PGA Tour. A lovely historic moment on a beautiful Augusta morning.
There’s no point fighting it. We can’t wait until 2pm. Let’s ease ourselves into this nice and slowly, and there’s only one place to start. Crank it up.
Preamble
Here we all are again, then, back at Augusta! It’s only been five months since Dustin Johnson won The One In November, so in that context we’re being somewhat spoiled. But it’s been two years since the last Masters in its traditional April setting, and two years since the patrons have been in situ, so you can be forgiven if you’ve been Bobby Jonesing for the most glamorous golf show on earth. It’s back, baby. Can you wait? Us neither.
Tiger won that last April Masters, in those heady, carefree days of 2019. His awful accident means he won’t be here this year; here’s to the great man rebuilding his health and completing yet another fairytale comeback. A sixth Masters in 2022? Hey, we’re allowed to dream. As for the winner of this one … well, the field is crowded, and there’s plenty of cream rising to the top.
DJ is favourite, as he strives to become the first man to retain the title since Tiger in 2002. Before that, it was Nick Faldo in 1990; before him, it was Jack in 1966. This sort of thing doesn’t happen often. If anyone can do it, the easy-going South Carolinian can.
But there are plenty enough people with the game, the moxie, the temperament and the sheer start quality to stop him. The US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. The new Players champion Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, back in the winners’ circle last week at the Texas Open after four fallow years on Tour. Brooks Koepka, the four-time major winner just pipped by Tiger the last time we were here in April. The PGA champ Collin Morikawa. Perennial major bridesmaids Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey. Rory? Sergio? Sergio! A resurgent Sergio! We could go on for some time, but what would be the point? There aren’t too many no-hopers in this field.
We’ll get underway here at 2pm BST, which translates as 9am in Georgia. Make yourself a pimento cheese sandwich, pour a long cool glass of iced tea, and settle down. It’s going to be a long four days, yet it’ll whizz by in a flash. It’s the 85th edition of the Masters Tournament. It’s back where it belongs, at the start of April. It’s on!
Until then, the tee times ... (USA unless stated, all times local, +5hrs BST):
(a) denotes amateurs
08:00 Michael Thompson, Hudson Swafford
08:12 Sandy Lyle (Sco), Matt Jones (Aus), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa)
08:24 Ian Woosnam (Wal), Jim Herman, Stewart Cink
08:36 Sebastian Munoz (Col), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Robert Streb
08:45 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Will Zalatoris, Joe Long (a)
09:00 Brian Harman, Ian Poulter (Eng), Brendan Todd
09:12 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Corey Conners (Can)
09:24 Danny Willet (Eng), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Kevin Kisner
09:36 Jason Day (Aus), Matthew Wolff, Cameron Champ
09:48 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Harris English, Abraham Ancer (Mex)
10:06 Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland (Nor)
10:18 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Webb Simpson, Chirstiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa)
10:30 Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood (Eng), Tyler Strafaci (a)
10:42 Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm (Spa), Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
10:54 Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey (Eng)
11:06 Vijay Singh (Fij), Martin Laird (Sco)
11:18 Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Brian Gay
11:30 Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)
11:42 Mike Weird (Can), C.T. Pan (Tpe), Robert MacIntyre (Sco)
11:54 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Matt Wallace (Eng), Lanto Griffin
12:12 Victor Perez (Fra), Jason Kokrak, Marc Leishman (Aus)
12:24 Fred Couples, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Charles Osborne (a)
12:36 Zach Johnson, Kevin Na, Gary Woodland
12:48 Shane Lowry (Irl), Justin Rose (Eng), Matt Kuchar
13:00 Billy Horschel, Tyrell Hatton (Eng), Ryan Palmer
13:12 Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Scottie Scheffler
13:24 Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im (Kor), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)
13:36 Adam Scott (Aus), Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa
13:48 Tony Finau, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Justin Thomas
14:00 Jordan Spieth, Cameron Smith (Aus), Collin Morikawa
Updated
