TIGER WOODS ELECTRIFIED Augusta National before late miscues cost him a share of the early first-round lead at the Masters, where former champion Adam Scott was among the early pace-setters and Rory McIlroy failed to fire.
Australia’s Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, birdied three of the last four holes in his 69 and was joined in the clubhouse on three-under par by Spain’s Jon Rahm and South African Justin Harding.
It was a frustrating first round for McIlroy, as he carded a one-over 73 to leave him four shots off the lead. He got off to a poor start with a bogey before recovering with par and birdie shots over the next two holes.
Another bogey and birdie followed to leave him on par at the turn where his mixed form continued with back-to-back bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes.
The world number three followed that up with a burst of three birdies between the 13th and 16th before bringing his round to a dismal end with a brace of bogeys over the final two holes.
He was in a group that included defending champion Patrick Reed of the United States.
Rahm, making his third Masters start, played alongside Woods. One-under through nine, he birdied 11 and 13 to take a share of the lead, and held onto it with a par save from the bunker at 18.
McIlroy is on one-over after the first round. David J. Phillip
David J. Phillip
“I heard Tiger say if you shoot under par in the first round of a Masters, take it,” Rahm said. “This is a lot more than I could have hoped for.”
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Woods, who counts four Masters green jackets among his 14 major titles, thrilled the massive galleries following him through the towering Georgia pines when he joined the leading group on three-under with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14.
But he couldn’t make a further gain at the par-5 15th, and he missed a nine-foot par-saving putt at 17 as he settled for a 70.
“I thought I played well today,” said Woods, who last won the Masters in 2005. “I thought I hit a lot of good shots.”
Missed chances from inside 10 feet cost him on the front nine, including a five-footer to save par at the fifth and a short birdie putt at the sixth.
“I missed a few, sure,” Woods said. “I mis-read a couple of them and hit one bad one there at six, but other than that it was a solid day.”
Woods noted that three of his four Masters victories — in 1997, 2001 and 2002 opened with rounds of 70.
“Good, solid start,” he said.
Canadian Corey Conners, Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard and Americans J.B. Holmes, Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland were all in the clubhouse on two-under, one off the lead, as the day’s last group reached the turn.
World number two Dustin Johnson was two-under through 11, US Open champion Brooks Koepka was two-under through 10 and three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson was two-under through nine.
Among the clubhouse leaders, Masters debutant Harding and Rahm could be expected to feel the butterflies in the first major of the year, but former winner Scott said he felt them, too.
“It’s the most nervous I get, first tee at Augusta,” Scott said. “It means so much to us all. It takes me a couple of holes to calm myself down.”
Perhaps that’s why he did most of his damage late, with birdies at 15, 17 and 18.
“I got some good numbers into greens and felt like I’d swung well all day but I didn’t see too many pins I could attack out there,” Scott said.
“Early on it was playing long as well,” he added of a course still drying out after pre-tournament rain. “The ball wasn’t running.”
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Woods in contention after electric start while mixed opening round frustrates McIlroy
TIGER WOODS ELECTRIFIED Augusta National before late miscues cost him a share of the early first-round lead at the Masters, where former champion Adam Scott was among the early pace-setters and Rory McIlroy failed to fire.
Australia’s Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, birdied three of the last four holes in his 69 and was joined in the clubhouse on three-under par by Spain’s Jon Rahm and South African Justin Harding.
It was a frustrating first round for McIlroy, as he carded a one-over 73 to leave him four shots off the lead. He got off to a poor start with a bogey before recovering with par and birdie shots over the next two holes.
Another bogey and birdie followed to leave him on par at the turn where his mixed form continued with back-to-back bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes.
The world number three followed that up with a burst of three birdies between the 13th and 16th before bringing his round to a dismal end with a brace of bogeys over the final two holes.
He was in a group that included defending champion Patrick Reed of the United States.
Rahm, making his third Masters start, played alongside Woods. One-under through nine, he birdied 11 and 13 to take a share of the lead, and held onto it with a par save from the bunker at 18.
“I heard Tiger say if you shoot under par in the first round of a Masters, take it,” Rahm said. “This is a lot more than I could have hoped for.”
Woods, who counts four Masters green jackets among his 14 major titles, thrilled the massive galleries following him through the towering Georgia pines when he joined the leading group on three-under with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14.
But he couldn’t make a further gain at the par-5 15th, and he missed a nine-foot par-saving putt at 17 as he settled for a 70.
“I thought I played well today,” said Woods, who last won the Masters in 2005. “I thought I hit a lot of good shots.”
Missed chances from inside 10 feet cost him on the front nine, including a five-footer to save par at the fifth and a short birdie putt at the sixth.
“I missed a few, sure,” Woods said. “I mis-read a couple of them and hit one bad one there at six, but other than that it was a solid day.”
Woods noted that three of his four Masters victories — in 1997, 2001 and 2002 opened with rounds of 70.
“Good, solid start,” he said.
Canadian Corey Conners, Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard and Americans J.B. Holmes, Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland were all in the clubhouse on two-under, one off the lead, as the day’s last group reached the turn.
World number two Dustin Johnson was two-under through 11, US Open champion Brooks Koepka was two-under through 10 and three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson was two-under through nine.
Among the clubhouse leaders, Masters debutant Harding and Rahm could be expected to feel the butterflies in the first major of the year, but former winner Scott said he felt them, too.
“It’s the most nervous I get, first tee at Augusta,” Scott said. “It means so much to us all. It takes me a couple of holes to calm myself down.”
Perhaps that’s why he did most of his damage late, with birdies at 15, 17 and 18.
“I got some good numbers into greens and felt like I’d swung well all day but I didn’t see too many pins I could attack out there,” Scott said.
“Early on it was playing long as well,” he added of a course still drying out after pre-tournament rain. “The ball wasn’t running.”
Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell
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© – AFP 2019
Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella are joined by Bernard Jackman to discuss Izzy Folau’s impending sacking by Australia and all the week’s news on the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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