AGONY FOR TOP GUN DUSTIN
Journeyman McGirt hits front as Johnson withdraws after fall
THE 81st Masters lost world No1 Dustin Johnson without him playing a shot and gained a surprise first round leader in the late afternoon shadows in the form of portly American William McGirt.
The 37-year-old from North Carolina, with one career victory to his name, became the first man to break 70 in this year’s edition. It was a considerable achievement on a day when the wind gusted up to 40mph and all the cruel beauty of Augusta revealed itself.
A day likened by many competitors to The Open rather than this annual rite of spring in the Deep South, perhaps unsurprisingly, produced a strong showing from the English contingent. Matt Fitzpatrick would have matched McGirt’s 69 but for a double bogey at the 18th while Andy Sullivan and Justin Rose also shot rounds of 71. Another contented camper was Paul Casey, who matched the stringent par of 72.
Phil Mickelson, playing in his 25th Masters and trying to emulate the achievement of Jack Nicklaus and win at the age of 46, showed all his experience and guile to craft a 71. Out on the course, American Charley Hoffman was seven under with one to play, and clearly set to overtake the clubhouse leader.
Pre-tournament favourite Johnson got as far as the first tee before he decided he couldn’t do himself justice.
His desperation to play had been clear. He’d grimaced his way through a few practice shots, his discomfort so plain he couldn’t even put a tee peg in the ground. But he still told a television reporter ‘I’m gonna give it a try,’ as he made the long walk to the first.
Once he got there, however, he couldn’t go through with it.
The bravado he felt on the practice range standing next to just his coach Butch Harmon and his brother Austin, who caddies for him, had evaporated by the time he reached the vast throng who had gathered in the hope of watching him play. Their cheers had the opposite effect to the one intended, intimidating rather than encouraging. He walked back to the clubhouse, dejection written all over his face, and withdrew from the tournament.
All that brilliant golf in the build-up, all that hard work to become by a country mile the best player, undone by a freak injury suffered on Wednesday. A brilliant athlete, maybe the best golf has ever seen, given a painful reminder of his mortality.
Johnson’s frustration was plain. ‘I’m playing the best golf I’ve ever played and I wanted to play more than anything,’ he said. ‘I can make a backswing but it’s tight at impact. I made some swings but I can only go at 80 per cent and I don’t feel I can compete.’
Johnson had been relaxing at his rental home on Wednesday. The rain was coming down in sheets when he learned his son Tatum was on his way back from daycare. Johnson thought he’d move the car so the nanny could pull up next to the house and they wouldn’t get wet. Wearing socks, he slipped down the shiny wooden stairs and knew instantly he’d done something. The season’s opening major had its first twist, both literal and metaphorical. ‘I tried everything I could to get it right,’ he said. ‘We had ice on it, heat, then ice, then heat. It feels like in a couple of days it will be fine and if the tournament started on Monday I’d be ready to go.’ Alas for Johnson, the green jacket he’d envisioned himself in will be worn by someone else that day.
Being No 1 has become something of a poisoned chalice heading into the majors. Remember Rory McIlroy damaging ankle ligaments on the eve of the 2015 Open at St Andrews? The previous year Tiger Woods was the game’s best player when he pulled out of the Masters. The news about Johnson completed a subdued start to this year’s edition. The storms had mercifully subsided overnight but been replaced by distinctly chilly temperatures and the significant breezes.
‘It was just brutal out there,’ said Sullivan – and he was one of the survivors, with his fine one under par score. ‘I had a putt on 17 that was downhill and it almost blew back uphill.’
Sullivan has had a quiet time of it since the Ryder Cup last year but played well at the weekend in Houston last week and clearly his confidence is returning.
The 30-year-old from Nuneaton shot 80,77 for an unhappy Masters baptism last year. ‘I was the most nervous man on the golf course so I was determined to feel normal,’ he said. ‘I just told myself to go out there and play properly and I’m buzzing to break par.’
Rose generated a decent roar when he struck a magnificent midiron to the first hole to inside 3ft.
There was a clear bounce to his stride as he made his way on to the green. ‘Great shot Rosey,’ cried Jason Day, his playing partner. Alas, Rosey then missed the short putt, and his exasperation was plain. The things this game does to a man.
Rose dug deep. Another good birdie opportunity followed at the second and this one was accepted. Rose reached the turn in 35 and played the back nine solidly for his 71.
Given how difficult the course was playing, it was remarkable the Belgian Thomas Pieters could reach the turn on his first Masters appearance in 32 strokes. He needed 40, alas, for the back nine.
As for the sole Scots in the field, Russell Knox and former Masters champion Sandy Lyle, this was a day when the pair had to be content with rounds of 76 and 77 respectively.
At the back of the field, Rory McIlroy was two over par after 13 holes, and in need of a good finish to limit the damage, in order to make hay over the days ahead when the weather is mercifully expected to improve considerably.