EARLY BLOOM SUITS ROSE
Spieth on a roll and Els joins the party
The past, present and golf ’ s future were all represented on a true leaderboard for the ages on a thrilling opening day at the 79th Masters at sun-baked Augusta.
Thirty-four-year- old Justin Rose put together an eloquent statement for the current generation to tie the early lead on 67 with American Charley hoffman. But then late in the afternoon came two players at opposite ends of the age spectrum to electrify the patrons basking in stifling temperatures.
After Greg Norman, ernie els might be the great hard luck story when it comes to fabulous playersy who never quite got it done here. Given how good he was at 25, he represents a cautionary tale for those who believe it inevitable Rory McIlroy will win the Masters one day.
els is still trying, at 45, and what a joy to see one of the great ball-strikers roll back a decade or two rather than the years to post a 67. A wonderful eagle three at the 15th was followed by a superlative sand save from a buried lie at the 17th.
Only at the last was there a modicum of disappointment. Two putts and it would have been his lowest score in 71 rounds at Augusta. But he took three, to fall back into a tie with Rose and hoffman.
Jordan Spieth was just 254 days old when els played in his first Masters. heavens, he’s only 21 now. The brilliant Texan finished runnerup on his debut in 2014 and has barely been off a leaderboard all year.
It certainly didn’t look as if he’d be off the top of this one as he marched to a stunning eight under after 14 holes of his round. With a par five to follow, it looked like anything was possible, even the mythical score of 62, one never seen yet in a major championship. But with history in his sights he finally acted his age, taking six at this great risk-reward long hole. he still led by two, mind, with three to go.
All this wonderfully adventurous play rather overshadowed the solid performances earlier of many of the favoured names. They were led by Rory McIlroy, who opened with a 71, as did defending champion Bubba Watson. Dustin Johnson recovered from a poor start to match the two-under-par rounds of 70 recorded by Patrick Reed and Masters specialist Phil Mickelson.
Rose in full bloom on day one is a sight as familiar as the glorious azaleas. In his nine previous starts at the Masters, Rose has led on three occasions after the opening round. here he equalled his best ever Masters score, recorded on the opening day in 2004. That year he also went on to hold the 36-hole lead, while in 2007 he was lying tied second going into the final round, eventually finishing tied fifth.
Add all those memories of good days at Augusta, therefore, to the fact he’s now a proven major champion following his US Open triumph in 2013, and there must be the hope this will prove rather more than an excellent opening gambit.
Certainly that’s how the man himself is looking at it. ‘I’ve learned plenty from those previous occasions, like not getting ahead of yourself,’ he said. ‘I’ ve learned that the hard way and now I can’t see any reason why I shouldn’t keep executing the game plan.
‘You’ve got to believe in yourself, especially when you’re a major winner.’
Rose wasn’t the only englishman to prosper on day one. In-form Paul Casey might have bogeyed the last but no player is going to complain too loudly if he finishes up in the sixties after the opening round, as the Surrey man did with his 69.
‘I played with Paul last week and he strikes me as a man with something to prove,’ said Rose. ‘I think he’s missed the limelight. This course is perfect for his ball flight.’
McIlroy recovered from a nervously played front nine to shoot his handy one-under round. Over that outward half, some familiar McIlroy failings at Augusta revealed themselves, as he failed to birdie either par five.
Two chunked chip shots at the third and sixth also betrayed a level of tension that illustrated fully the momentous nature of the achievement he is trying to complete in shooting for the career grand slam.
There were also two encouraging moments during that front nine, however, when he turned what would have been double bogeys in the past into mere bogeys.
At the par-five second he drove into a hazard and was staring an ugly seven in the face for openers until he got down in two blows from 100 yards. At the sixth, his mishit chip came back down the steep
slope but he didn’t panic. He decided to take his putter for the second attempt and got down in two.
The value of limiting the damage was emphasised further when he notched his first birdie of the day at the next hole. On the back nine, it was much more like it from the 25- year- old Northern Irishman. Over the front nine he had given up three shots on the par fives alone to his playing partner Mickelson, but here he got the two birdies on offer at the 13th and the 15th.
McIlroy confirmed this was the sort of start he wanted.
‘I left myself in some awkward spots but I holed some good putts on the back nine,’ he said. ‘I was a little nervous on the front nine but mostly just too excited. It was a decent opener.’
The day as a whole was a lot better than that. One to savour, in fact.