JORDAN RULES ROUND 1

TIGER SEVEN BACK; ‘ANKLEMAN’ FINAU TWO STROKES BEHIND

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Matt Parziale, the 30-year-old firefighter from Brockton, Mass., who earned a Masters berth by winning the Mid-Amateur Championship, posted an openinground 9-over 81 on Thursday.

Parziale, who on Wednesday got to play a nine-hole practice round with his golfing hero, Tiger Woods, called his round “frustrating,’’ adding, “It’s so great to play here, but just frustrating that I played bad.’’

Asked durin which moment he felt more pressure, playing with Woods or the first round of the Masters, Parziale said: “I don’t know if pressure’s the right word. It’s two different situations. It was fun playing with Tiger. Today’s a tournament, so it’s two different things.’’

Now that making the cut is all but out of the question, Parziale said “the plan’’ for Friday’s second round is simply to go as low as he can go.

“We played bad rounds before, so it’s just another bad round is what it is, which is frustrating,’’ he said. “It’s not the end of the world. We’re going to wake up tomorrow, hopefully.’’

➤ Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson shot his best opening round at the Masters in three years on Thursday, but he wasn’t exactly a happy camper. Mickelson’s 2-under 70 left him four strokes behind Jor

dan Spieth and annoyed he didn’t play better.

“I was fractionally off,” Mickelson said. “I just wasn’t quite sharp. I didn’t strike it the way I wanted to. My short game wasn’t quite as sharp as I wanted it to be and I didn’t capitalize on some putts that I’ve usually been making. But what I did do well was I plotted my way around the golf course. I got in in a reasonable score.”

Mickelson, who at age 47 is trying to become the oldest player to win the Masters, had opened with rounds of 72 and 71 his previous two years. The last time he shot 70 in the opening round was in 2015, when he tied for second behind Spieth.