DEFENDING CHAMP MAKES FLYING START
Defending champion off to a flying start and McIlroy is right on the Aussie’s tail
Masters champion adam scott began the defence of hi s title at augusta National yesterday like a man with no intention of letting anyone rip the jacket off his back.
all year the pride he felt in ending the australian curse here and wearing that treasured coat — to use the american vernacular — of green has been obvious.
so it continued on to the course as he opened with a three-underpar 69 that would have been still better but for one blemish with a double bogey at the 12th.
that apart, this was an impressive beginning from the 33-year-old that left him one shot off the early lead posted by american Bill Haas.
all those hoping for scott and rory McIlroy to be locked together come the final nine holes on sunday will have been encouraged by the sight of the Northern Irishman also negotiating the first skirmishes well enough to take his place on the leaderboard.
the 24-year- old finished nished with a round of 71, which hich r epresented a good od start under normal circumstances but one that would have left a disappointing taste given how well he played for the most part. two three putts on the back nine and an ugly six at the par- five eighth stunted his progress.
McIlroy began like a man on a mission, booming three drives on the opening three holes that all came to rest on their respective fairways at least 320 yards from the tee.
at the short par-four third, that left him just a pitch on to the green and he duly knocked it close to set up his first birdie. another followed at the fifth but then came bogeys at the eighth and 12th.
He found the green in two on both the par fives on the back nine to set up birdies but a three-putt at the 18th will have stung. still, he is well placed and at least will not have to cope with all the hype that would have followed from the low round that looked a real possibility at one point.
after the monsoon on Monday and unseasonably chilly weather to follow, dawn broke on Masters thursday to a Georgia peach of a day. Ninety- seven competitors must have drawn the curtains back and felt especially blessed. the opportunity was clearly there to post a score and make a statement but the pin positions on the first day of the major championship season are usually brutal and here was no exception.
Much of the interest surrounded McIlroy and scott, of course, the best ball strikers in the modern game who were out in successive groups. Both are known for racing out of the traps and setting opening days alight.
It looked just such a day for scott, who made a spectacular start. a pushed drive at the first left him with just a narrow opening to squeeze his approach through if he was to find the green.
He did that all right, provoking one of the loudest cheers of the early play when the ball pitched just six feet from the hole and pulled up half that distance away. Having achieved one unlikely birdie, scott then managed another at the par-three sixth, where the hole was positioned on a treacherous ledge. a more customary one ff or a man with his prodigious gifts off the tee followed at the long eighth to take him out in a tidy 333 strokes. scott broke the australian curse with a birdie at the 10th last year — the second extra hole of his sudden- death play- off against angel Cabrera — and showed his liking for this scenic beauty once more with another to cruise to the top of the leaderboard at four under.
the 12th hole at augusta is the shortest on the course, known as Golden Bell, and how often has it tolled for players who appeared to be moving smoothly through the gears?
On this day the flag was located on the right, always the most dangerous spot. Never go for this flag, advises Jack Nicklaus, but scott gambled and went for it. and lost. His ball finished in the water and he failed to hole from six feet for a bogey. amen Corner never got any more spiritual for him, either. He three-putted the long 13th for a disappointing par. scott then continued this curious day where he birdied the holes you’re supposed to par and parred the holes that offer obvious opportunities.
He picked up a shot at the difficult par-four 14th but could only walk off with a regulation figure at the 15th.
still, three pars to finish left him feeling contented. ‘anything under 70 is exactly what you are looking for on the opening day of the Masters,’ he said.
a clutch of players shot 70, including emerging american Jimmy Walker, while alongside McIlroy on 71 was 54-year- old Fred Couples. evergreen seems exactly the right word to describe him given that every time he puts on that green jacket and walks through the gates of Magnolia Lane he turns into a golfing Peter Pan. Couples hasn’t finished outside the top 15 since turning 50, a truly remarkable statistic.
scotland’s stephen Gallacher was going along nicely at one under with three to play and Graeme McDowell shot a respectable 72, but england’s finest were having another frustrating day.
Luke Donald needed 41 blows to play the front nine, Justin rose was not f aring much better, while Ian Poulter’s frustrating season continued as he could only manage a disappointing 76. He felt he played quite well but not well enough to keep him in with a chance of winning the tournament. Lee Westwood was level par after seven.
the early leaderboard featured the highly unlikely name of Ian Woosnam, who reached the turn in a creditable level-par 36. But he played those two death or glory par fives on the back nine in 13 strokes before fatigue kicked in with bogeys on the final two holes. He shot 77.
What of the two stadlers, Kevin and Craig, the first father and son to play in the same Masters?
Kevin, on his debut, shot a fine round of 70. His dad must have been delighted with that one, surely? Judge for yourself from stadler’s transcript. Did you watch Kevin tee off? ‘No.’ He did pretty well today. ‘No idea what he shot.’ two under today. ‘Did he? Good.’ Craig stadler, it hardly needs saying, went round in 82. Wouldn’t you think he’d have forgotten his own disappointment when learning about his son?