Garcia shoots an octuple bogey
Defending champion
Sergio Garcia made history — not the good kind — in the opening round of the Masters on Thursday.
Garcia carded a 13 on the par-5 15th after hitting four shots into the water in front of the green.
He matched the highest single-hole score in Masters history. Tom Weiskopf had a 13 at No. 12 in 1980 and Tsuneyuki “Tommy” Nakajima did it at No. 13 in 1978.
For the record, it was an octuple bogey.
Also for the record, it was the highest score posted by any player ever on the hole that played second easiest for the field, and part of an 81 that was the highest score ever shot by a defending champion in the opening round of the Masters.
•Tiger Woods could have used a few prayers before taking on Amen Corner.
Woods hit three balls into the gallery and another into the water at Augusta National’s famed, threehole signature section. He finished with two bogeys and a par, and it could have been much worse.
• Tony Finau shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday and is only two shots off the lead after dislocating his ankle on Wednesday.
On the eve of his first Masters, he made a holein-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 doctors cleared him after an early Thursday morning MRI
•A charter bus headed to the Masters golf tournament overturned on a Georgia interstate Thursday, injuring 15 people and snarling traffic as scores of fans made the pilgrimage to one of the sport’s premier events. The bus driver was charged with driving under the influence.
A Georgia hospital was treating nine passengers Thursday evening, including one in critical condition.
The bus carrying 18 passengers crashed at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday, just as fans were driving in for the tournament’s first round. Sgt. Chris Wright of the Georgia State Patrol said the driver ran off the right side, then over-corrected and caused the bus to overturn in the median. Some passengers suffered broken bones and head injuries.
Operated by Jet Executive Limousine of metro Atlanta, the charter bus “was set up like a party limousine in the back,” Wright said.
The bus driver, 61-yearold Steven F. Hoppenbrouwer of Gwinnett County, Georgia, was charged with DUI and failure to maintain lane. Wright said investigators believe Hoppenbrouwer had been using drugs, not alcohol.