Spieth starts Masters in winning style
AUGUSTA: Jordan Spieth is in very familiar territory, leading the Masters with the rest playing catchup, but he has too much respect for Augusta National to feel in total control.
The 24yearold Texan put the field on notice by firing a sixunderpar 66 to lead by two shots from Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar after the opening round yesterday.
His day included an eagle, and five consecutive birdies on the back nine which required just 10 putts.
Spieth has led after nine of his 17 career rounds at the Masters.
The world No 4 was the last man to lead the Masters from start to finish, when he won in a canter in 2015. He has two other runnerup finishes in the past four years and his rivals are keenly aware of his potential to become the first player to record multiple wiretowire victories at Augusta.
Greats Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer managed the feat just once.
Even Spieth, who is at times painfully modest, admitted he is in the box seat.
‘‘Technically, yes,’’ he said. ‘‘To go wiretowire is a rare occurrence in any tournament, anywhere.
‘‘I’m going to try and control what I can and that’s about it.’’
He added: ‘‘If you get off to a good start, you’re in control of your own fate, versus needing any help.
‘‘This golf course brings out a lot of feel in my game and I think that’s an advantage.’’
However, the memory of his horror 2016 final round collapse when leading remains strong.
‘‘I know as well as anybody that anything can happen at Augusta National,’’ Spieth said.
‘‘You know, whether it’s tomorrow or it’s Saturday or Sunday, I’ll always have demons out here.
‘‘But I’ll always have a tremendous amount of confidence out here.
‘‘Once you win here, you have an advantage over anybody who hasn’t won here.
‘‘This tournament often feels like there’s six rounds with how the weekend grind is.
‘‘I feel like I’m kind of one
round down out of six, so I’m not getting ahead of myself.’’
Finau’s score was remarkable, after he dislocated his ankle celebrating a holeinone during the par3 contest on Wednesday and was a chance of withdrawing from the event.
Former British Open winner Henrik Stenson and fourtime major winner Rory McIlroy (69) headline seven players tied for fourth at three under.
A shot back is Marc Leishman, who posted a 70 while playing with Tiger Woods to be the leading Australian.
Leishman easily upstaged Woods, who got his highlyanticipated Masters comeback off to a good start with an early birdie but after a series of errors from the tee, the fourtime champion finished at oneover (73). — AAP