Spieth off to a great start
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Maybe this Masters will live up to the hype.
On a Thursday that broke chilly but eventually warmed up under plentiful sunshine, the first round of the 82nd Masters didn’t fail to deliver an eccentric bounty of story lines and an eclectic leaderboard.
Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy put himself in position to complete the career Grand Slam with a 3-underpar 69, a score matched by 2016 British Open champion Henrik Stenson as he celebrated his
42nd birthday. Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson is in striking range to become the oldest winner of the green jacket after a 70, Matt Kuchar shot 68 as he tries to get his first major win, and Tony Finau, who dislocated his ankle Wednesday after making a hole in one in the
Par-3 Contest, shot 68 in his first Masters.
And an all too familiar narrative emerged late in the day — Jordan Spieth is atop the famous white scoreboards again. The 2015 Masters champion, who also has finished runner-up twice, made five consecutive birdies on the back nine and finished with a
66 to grab a two-stroke lead. “It’s round one. I know as well as anyone that anything can happen around this place,” said Spieth, referring to his infamous collapse in the last round in 2016, when he squandered a five-shot lead with nine holes to play. “I’m certainly not going to get ahead of myself.”
All of that plus the biggest story heading into one of the most anticipated Masters in years — Tiger Woods made his ballyhooed return after missing the past two Masters with back injuries. The four-time Masters champion signed for a so-so 73 after he dunked his tee shot on the 12th in Rae’s Creek, squandered good chances for birdies early in the round and rebounded with birdies on 14 and 16.
“I only came up here the last couple of years just to have food” at the Champions Dinner, said Woods, who didn’t shoot par or better for the first time in his last 13 rounds this year. “My play coming into this event has been pretty solid. So the nerves really were just normal. I wasn’t flying high. I wasn’t jittery. I wasn’t any of that stuff. I was very confident in what I was doing. I hit some good shots early; unfortunately they just didn’t continue.”
Defending champion Sergio Garcia’s day, however, was ruined in one hole. On the
par-5 15th, he put not one, not two, but five balls into the pond guarding the front of the green, the last four trickling down the slope until disappearing into the water. He made a 10-footer to finish with an octuple-bogey
13 and shot 81.
“It’s the first time in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot,” said Garcia, who made an eagle 3 in the last round in 2017 en route to the green jacket. “Simple as that. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots, and unfortunately the ball just didn’t want to stop. It’s just unfortunate, but that’s what it is.”
Finau made a hole in one on the eighth hole in the Par-3 Contest but dislocated his left ankle as he jumped for joy. He immediately popped it back into place, got an MRI on Thursday morning and then limped his way to a 68.
“After what I went through yesterday and how I felt this morning, there’s no way I thought I would be in this position,” Finau said. “It was mind over matter for me.”
Spieth’s mind has been one of his best weapons, along with his putter and iron play, at Augusta National. He found good form and an improving putting stroke in the Houston Open last weekend and said he’s carried the momentum into this week.
After switching gloves because his hands were sweaty on the back nine, he got rolling with birdies on 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 before finishing with a bogey. He was pretty good without a glove, too, as he putts with his bare hands.
For six months, he said, his putting has been off. But he found something in Houston and he’s brought it with him to Augusta.
“It’s all about getting comfortable,” Spieth said of his putting. “I put a lot of good work in the last 10 days and got some momentum in Houston and we’ll see where it goes from here.”