Water torture
Sergio Garcia, left, the 2017 Masters champion, recorded a 13 on the par-five 15th hole, at one point hitting five straight balls into the water.
AUGUSTA, GA. — Sergio Garcia insisted that he didn’t miss a shot Thursday.
That’s an incredible statement considering the defending Masters champion put five balls in the water and trudged away from the 15th hole with an eight-overpar 13 during the first round of the Masters.
The final shock was Garcia one-putted for his octuple bogey.
It was record-setting embarrassment, with the Spaniard beating the previous worst of 11 shared by three players in the 82-year history of the tournament.
This is the hole, remember, made famous in 1935 when Gene Sarazen scored a double-eagle two. And Garcia eagled it last year on his way to victory.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Garcia said after finishing a round of nine-over 81 that put him tied for next to last.
“It’s the first time I in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot. Simple as that. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots and unfortunately the ball just didn’t want to stop.”
Garcia’s problem could be he stubbornly kept hitting the same shot.
Garcia bombed a 322yard drive and had 206 yards to the pin. He chose six-iron and hit a near-perfect shot that could have given him a putt for eagle, but the ball found the top of the shaved bank fronting the green and trickled back into the water.
“It carries probably two more feet, it’s probably good,” Garcia said.
Then came a scene out of “Tin Cup.”
Garcia found a place to drop 90 yards from the flag. He used his sand wedge. Four times he flew a shot a few yards past the pin, and four times the ball spun back just enough to catch the bank and plop into the pond.
The crowd groaned after the first three short shots went in the water. Then cheers of encouragement came from the stands as Garcia lined up to try again. He tipped his cap, swung again, and failed again.
Finally, with yet another similar shot, the ball settled nine feet from the cup, and he made the putt.
It drew a standing ovation from the gallery, though Garcia hardly seemed to notice.
Mickelson recovers
Phil Mickelson birdied both par-fives on the back nine and added a birdie at the 16th to shoot two-under 70.
Early in the round, he birdied the first and third, and bogeyed the par-five second when he had to hit a shot right-handed, his club turned over, because he was obstructed by a tree trunk.
“I was fractionally off today. I just wasn’t quite sharp,” Mickelson said.
Notable
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson recovered from hitting in the water on 15 to save par, but also bogeyed the par-five second hole in carding a 74. Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, whose two victories this season include the Genesis Open at Riviera, had a 73. Jason Day struggled to a 75.