Early risers
Those with morning tee times take advantage of conditions; Dechambeau sets early pace
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Those with early tee times for Thursday’s opening round of the Masters probably thought they were in for a doozy of a morning at Augusta National, where the overnight forecast called for heavy rain and miserable conditions.
Turns out they may have gotten an advantage.
The worst of the weather missed the course — it only rained enough to soften the greens — and Ryan Fox, Bryson Dechambeau and Byeong Hun An capitalized on it. Each of them made birdie on the first three holes, part of a morning wave that quickly got into red numbers in what turned out to be several hours of ideal scoring
conditions.
By late in the round on Thursday, Dechambeau was in at 7-uder 65. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was a shot back and Danny Willett was at 4-under in the players who completed the rain-delayed round.
Fox made the turn in 5 under and was setting the pace as the rest of the field teed off.
The start was delayed by 2 ½ hours by the weather, and those with later times may end up getting the worst of it. By the time many got going in the afternoon, including defending champion Jon Rahm and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, the wind was starting to whip through the Georgia pines with gusts predicted to reach 45 mph.
Rahm and Scheffler nevertheless got off to good starts in their pursuit of a second green jacket. Rahm was 1-under par through six holes, and Scheffler, the champion in 2022, had reached 2 under through six.
Scheffler began as the 4-1 favorite, according to Fanduel Sportsbook, the biggest since Tiger Woods nearly two decades ago.
Those excellent early conditions figured to get worse as the day pressed on. And latest groups, which included Tiger Woods,
Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, were unlikely to finish their opening rounds before darkness set it.
They will have to return Friday to complete them and then begin their second rounds after a short break.
Once the gates opened to patrons Thursday, they speed-walked to the first
tee. There, six-time champion Jack Nicklaus, with his wife Barbara on the bag, joined three-time winner Gary Player and two-time champ Tom Watson for the honorary start.
“It’s not so easy to put the ball on the tee now, is it?” Player asked the others, before striping one down the fairway.
“Watch out on the left and right,” Nicklaus quipped, before he, too, drove it right down the middle.
Erik van Rooyen and Jake Knapp were the first competitors off, while the heavy hitters from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf were scattered in featured groups throughout the day. It’s the first time since July at the British Open that they’ve been on the same course for the same tournament while the deep schism within professional golf drags on.*