Spieth hits stride in Masters’ first round.
AUGUSTA, GA. » Tiger Woods attracted most of the attention. Jordan Spieth caused the most concern.
Opening day at the Masters had a wide-open feel until Spieth hit his stride Thursday afternoon. He saved three straight pars with that superb short game. He ran off three straight birdies to take the lead. And then he fired an 8-iron at the pin on the par-3 16th, letting the club twirl through his hands as hewalked away, knowing only that itwas another good one. It plopped down 5 feet away.
“You don’t know where it’s going to end up,” he said, “but you know it’s going to be in a good position.”
Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine. He made five straight birdies, a career best for him in the majors. Even a bogey on the final hole felt like a par the way he navigated out of the trees and limited the damage with a pitch that stopped inches from going in.
That gave him a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.
It was the eighth time in his last 13 rounds at the Masters that Spieth ended a round with the lead.
Woods has some catching up to
do.
Woods failed to birdie any of the par 5s. He was under par on only one hole. He hit a 9-iron into Rae’s Creek. And only a pair of birdies over the last five holes enabled himto scratch out a 73 and at least stay inrange, sevenshots behind.
“Seventy-three is fine,” Woods said. “Bytheendof theweek, this will be a pretty packed leader board the way the golf course is set up. They have it right where they want it. It’s really hard to run away fromit, but it’s also really easy to lose it out there.”
Spieth could have built a bigger margin except for his wild tee shot to the left and into the trees on No. 18. Even so, his 66 sent a strong message.
Rory McIlroy, needing only a green jacket to compete the career Grand Slam, also took notice. He played in the group ahead of Spieth, andMcIlroywas scratching our key par saves just to stay in range. He was in the large group at 69, the solid start McIlroy needed, especially with how Spieth was going.
Itwas the first time since 2011 thatMcIlroy broke 70 in the first round at Augusta.
“Jordan had a pretty strong finish there,” McIlroy said. “But this is my best start in a few years. It’s such a hard golf course to play catch up on. If you start to chase it around here, that’swhen you start to make mistakes. But to be right up there and have the ability to stay patient, because of the position I’m in, that’s a nice luxury I have over the next few days.”
The best comeback? That might now belong to Finau.
On the eve of his firstMasters, hemade a hole-in-one on the seventh hole of the Par 3 Tournament, raced toward the green to celebrate and as he turned back toward the tee, his left ankle rolled. Finau went down, the ankle contorted, and he popped it into place. He wasn’t sure he could play until tests showed he was cleared to play.
And he played great, opening witha68despitea shortparputt that he missed on the 14th hole.
“I was just extremely happy that nothing was seriously wrong with my foot,” he said. “Quite honestly, it was a pretty cool moment followed by probably one ofmymost embarrassing moments and a scarymoment at the same time. Itwas quite crazy, all the emotions that I dealtwith overnight, but I was more than ecstatic to just be walking to that first tee and be playing in my firstMasters.”
Itwas just tough to score, with thegreens slickandfirmandseveral tough pin positions, mainly toward the front of the greens. That included the par-5 15th, and no one suffered quite like defending champion Sergio Garcia.
He hit his second shot into the water, and then had his next four shotswith a wedge roll back into thewater. Hemade a 10-foot putt close to the same length of his eagle puttwhen hewon last year to make a 13, thehighest score ever recorded on No. 15. Hewound up with an 81, the highest score in the opening round by a defendingMasters champion.
“It’s the first time inmy career where Imake a 13 withoutmissing a shot,” Garcia said. “Simple as that.”
Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler were among those at 70. So was Marc Leishman, who played in the group withWoods and Tommy Fleetwood and led most of the day until a chip from behind the 15th green came out too strong and didn’t stop rolling until itwas headed down the bank and into thewater, leading to double bogey.
Woods felt as though he played better than he scored, and there was no sense of panic. He was tied for 29th. Only two players have started farther down the leader board after the first round andwontheMasters— Woods in 2005 and IanWoosnam in 1991.
“I played in a major championship again,” he said. “But also the fact that I got myself back in this tournament, and I could have easily let it slip away. And I fought hard to get it back in there. There’s a lot of holes to be played.”