Thursday Draws to a close
Lots and lots of drama as usual at Augusta. Day 1 gave us all of the usual ups and downs and emotional roller coaster rides that we are accustomed to at Augusta National. As predicted an unexpected leader burst from the traps early on, and that was 29 year old Irish amateur Matthew McClean who raced to -2 after four holes, he must have thought for a moment that maybe just maybe, something akin to Happy Gilmour was on the cards. Afterall golf is just a hobby for this young Irishman, how is a fully qualified Optometrist by day. He qualified for the Masters this week by virtue of his US Mid-Amateur Championship win in 2022 and talk about seizing the opportunity by birdieing the first and fourth holes and finding himself atop the Masters leaderboard, it's what dreams are made of, but alas, the good fortune was not to last and the inevitable bogeys began to appear on the card at the fifth, eleventh and twelfth holes and double bogey on the tough seventh, he did bounce back with a birdie on 13 and finished the day with an unfortunate 77, so he will need a round in the red tomorrow to make the cut and I can't see that happening and another 77 or worse is more likely.
There has been some fantastic golf over the day with birdies galore and fair amount of eagles, which will earn some nice Augusta crystal for those who manage it.
Who's Hot?
Well Shane Lowry was as hot as it gets on a run of holes from 7 to 9 where he reeled off a trio of birdies and almost birdie-eagle-birdie to race into a share of the lead. He stuttered then for a while with pars and one bogey, but he managed to grab a birdie on 15 and another on 18 on the way back in and signed for a round of 68, which he will be thrilled with, as it leaves him in a perfect position heading into Friday.
Victor Hovland is another player who has been hot today, especially on the front nine, where birdies on the 6th 8th and 9th and an impressive eagle on the par 5 2nd say him make the turn on -5 and 31 shots. Now that is seriously impressive golf. He kept it going on the back nine too, with birdies on the 11th and 13th which sees him right in the mix going into day two. An opening day 65 is a thing of dreams, so he will be absolutely thrilled with his day's work.
Well when I start telling you about this one, you'll be wondering why it is in Hot rather than not, but let me explain. Jon Rahm steps up to the tee on one and hits a lovely hybrid into the fairway and then wedges to the green leaving himself and long uphill putt. See below pic.
That putt was for birdie, but what did Jon walk away with? Unbelievably he walked away with a double bogey after four putting the green. Crazy stuff. Then Jon Rahm being Jon Rahm bounced back into Rahm mode and smashed his way through the rest of the front nine with birdies on 2,3 and 7 and eagle on 8 to put himself back near the top pf the leaderboard. If John someone wins this golf tournament, it will be an amazing turnaround after that shocking four putt on the first green. He came in all guns blazing with birdies on 15, 16 and 18 and sits proudly atop the leaderboard alongside Victor Hovland and Brooks Koepka.
Well nobody will be surprised that Scottie Scheffler makes this list. The world number one missed a makeable birdie put on the first, but then on the par five 2nd, he hit a worldy approach to a few feet and made eagle three with aplomb. He went on to trade a birdie on 9 with a bogey on 11 to arrive to the 12th tee on -2.
Xander Schaufelle was my main pick for the week and he managed to get around Augusta in 68, which I am very happy about and he will be very happy about as well. It puts him in a great position after day one, and dare I say a position you often see the eventual winner hanging around in.
Who's Not?
Well I talked about Andrew McClean there at the start and after going -2 after 4,it quickly unraveled and he dropped like a stone and finished up on a sickening five over par 77, so he is the first mention on he who's not section.
I will include Bubba Watson here as well, as he could not buy a break on the front nine, with not one, but two double bogeys. This saw him sitting on five over par after 7 holes and looking very likely to be catching an early plane home on Saturday.
To his credit though, he grinded with birdies at 8, 12 and 13 and got himself to +2 and with a par 5 coming up he would have been feeling optimistic, but he made a horror swing on 15 and found an awful lie in the pine straw and would have to chip out. He did just that and had a short wedge in which he flushed perfectly and must have loved it in the air, it hits the pin and goes back into the pond, so instead of the birdie four he deserved, he got a double bogey 7. When it's not your day, it's not your day.
Cameron Champ was my outsider pick and well, I got that one wrong, very wrong, he was 175/1 for a reason.
He bogeyed the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th holes and with that could have ended any chance he had of competing here this week. He did manage three birdies and a run of pars to get back to -2, but bogeys on 17 and 18 menat that he had to sign for a +4 76 meaning that he has it all to do tomorrow to make the cut.
Tiger Woods won't be happy to be included in this section, so don't tell him if you're talking to him! But bogeys at the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 11th sent Tiger hurtling towards an opening round 74, which will have him under immense pressure tomorrow to try and make the cut.
Seamus Power will be absolutely sick with that first round, as he let a potential 69 slip from his grasp and morph into a 73, after double bogeys on both 17 and 18 after pull hooking both drives.
It's a real pity as -3 would have put him right in the mix going into Friday. Now he will be under pressure to make the cut which will be around +2.
First Round Leaderboard
Here is the first round leaderboard, and lots of the names that we expected to see there are there, but there are a few surprises at the bottom.
The photo used is not my own was sourced from Youtube screen grabs and https://www.masters.com and https://golf.com/news/liv-pga-tour-inside-story/ The masters records are screen shots from here https://www.masters.com/en_US/players/player_list.html
