With four players under par who are 50-and-over, it’s clear at Augusta that experience matters. After 60-year-old Tom Watson shot 67 to grab the early lead, Fred Couples (6-under through 17) has overtaken him at the top of the leader board. Scotland’s Sandy Lyle, 52, shot 69, while Germany’s Bernhard Langer, 52, shot 71.
With their recent success on the Champions Tour, the first-round play of Couples, Watson, and Langer isn’t a huge surprise. But what to make of Lyle?
The 1988 Masters champion has been off the radar for more than a decade. In 36 Champions Tour events, Lyle has exactly one top-10 finish and even missed the cut at the Senior PGA (2009) and Senior Open (2008).
The four seniors have won a combined six Masters. Watson (1977) was the first of the four to do it. Langer was the last (1993). Couples (1992) might have the best chance of the four. With three straight wins on the Champions Tour, some believe Couples is playing the best golf of his career.
