After three blustery days and expectations of inhospitable conditions, the warm air arrived, the wind departed, and the sun shined, right on cue for the opening round of the Masters.
Delighted to battle only the course Thursday, players took dead aim at Augusta National in a record-breaking day of scoring. Texan Chad Campbell flirted with the course record before settling for a 7-under-par 65 and the first-round lead by a stroke over Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk.
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Favorite Tiger Woods, gunning for his fifth Masters title, matched his best opening round in 15 appearances at Augusta, but considering the benign conditions, his 70 was a disappointment.
Woods made a charge, birdying three straight holes on the back nine, but missed a four-foot birdie putt at No. 17, then flew the green at No. 18 and chipped 50 feet past the hole on his way to bogey.
“I let a few shots slip away at the end,” said Woods. “But overall, happy the way I hit the golf ball today. Score could have been had out there today. Guys were tearing the place apart in the middle of the round and the back nine. You could definitely go get it.”
Woods will have to go get it today. He can find solace in the fact that he has won all three times he opened with 70 at Augusta. Among the formidable players he will have to contend with is Padraig Harrington (69), winner of golf’s last two major championships when Woods was recovering from knee surgery.
“They got a nice, sunny day with no wind. Do they have control over that,” joked Harrington about the powerful Augusta members who run the tournament. “The greens were reasonably receptive and the pins were generous.”
Nineteen players broke 70 on Thursday, the most ever in an opening round at Augusta. In four rounds last year, only 24 scores in the 60s were recorded. The field average was 72.25 Thursday, compared to 74.18 in 2008 and 76.19 in 2007.
“There were some accessible pins out there and the greens were somewhat receptive,” said Furyk. “For a guy like me that does not hit it that hard or high or spin the ball that hard, I’m never stopping the ball real easily, but I was able to.”
Campbell, who needed just 24 putts, undoubtedly agrees. He opened with five straight birdies and made four more consecutively on the back nine to threaten the tournament and major championship record of 63. But Campbell missed the fairway on the final two holes and made bogies.
Mahan, who had nine birdies, had a chance to tie for the lead at No. 18, but pulled his approach left and also made bogey.
The biggest surprises of the day were 50-year-old Larry Mize (67), 51-year-old Berhard Langer (70) and 54-year-old Greg Norman (70).
“I did not imagine a 67,” said Mize. “Experience is good anywhere, but here maybe even more. We are old guys fighting as best we can.”
