The leader is rarely the story on the first day of a major, and such it is with Sungjae Im at the 86th Masters. But no-one else but Tiger Woods was ever going to get top billing.
Once you set aside the remarkable fact that he’s playing at all, how did he play? Nicely. If we hadn’t been told that he’d almost lost his right leg 14 months ago you’d have put it down as a very controlled, very self-contained round of golf.
In his fallow and injury years, Tiger spent a great deal of time trying to keep up with the muscled, longer hitters when he probably had enough knowledge and skill to do decently anyway. Now, of course he has no choice because he can’t hit it 330 yards, it’s essential to use all the more subtle stuff.
Basically, his body is now limited, but his golfing brain is still limitless.
Scrambles, but no real struggles
“I’m very lucky to have this opportunity to be able to play, and not only that, to play in the Masters and to have this type of reception,” Woods said of his return to competitive golf. He will tee off tomorrow at 1:41 p.m. ET. – TGRhttps://t.co/T5znOzOmZm
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 7, 2022
The few times he unleashed the driver, it did not go well. But other than that he was fine. A 230-yard approach shot carried no great terrors for him, and he had a few.
He scrambled really well, straight from the first hole. His tee shot at the sixth was a stunner. I thought he looked to be toiling a little around eight and nine, but he found a second wind.
There were even a couple of chances missed towards the end, on 15 and 17. 71 was not the best it could have been.
The acid test now is today. What’s the reaction? Tiger gave some indication of the amount of conditioning work going on behind the scenes – his upper body kind of gave that away. But a second major championship 18 will test that to the limit.
But even if he breaks now, the story’s been written. He’s emulated Ben Hogan. Hogan went on to win majors after his car crash, but it was a very different competitive world then.
Just getting back and being as good as this in today’s world is an equal achievement, in my opinion.
DJ’s missed chance, and most of the favourites toil
Past champion Dustin Johnson joins the leaders at four under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/UHnnK1TxSe
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2022
Im was tied for second behind Dustin Johnson at the Covid Masters, so it was not a shock the stocky Korean was good again. What was a shock was that Johnson, four-under with a birdie at the 10th, somehow trailed in two behind.
You’d have bet the house on DJ birdieing both the par fives and coming home with a 66. But instead he birdied neither – he played the 13th clumsily for a par – and bogeyed 17.
The long holes are where you win the Masters, as DJ himself said prior to the tournament. They’re the real reason why Rory McIlroy has not won at Augusta, and he picked up just one stroke on the four on Thursday. With his length, it’s just not good enough.
But Rory (73) was not the only disappointment on Day One. Justin Thomas, many people’s pick, was four-over, Brooks Koepka just one shot better off. Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth were all two-over.
The guys who matched their billing were Cam Smith – framing his 68 with doubles at the first and last – World No 1 Scottie Scheffler (69) and, quietly, Patrick Cantlay, who birdied three of the last six for a 70.
Bob’s bouncebackability
No matter what happens in my Golf Career I got to do something very very special @TheMasters 💚🏌️♂️ pic.twitter.com/UguIKcbNkC
— Robert MacIntyre (@robert1lefty) April 6, 2022
Robert MacIntyre once again did Scotland proud, but it’s his resilience around Augusta that impresses most.
We’ve all seen enough of Augusta now to know that all can go sweetly until something cataclysmic happens and then despair takes hold. You feared this simmering with Bob when an over-bold approach to the 11th that kicked into the (enlarged) pond and he took a double there.
Up to that point he’d played nicely. A birdie at two, some nice escapes, then the 8th where he missed a routine three-footer for birdie. There was a good par save from the trees at the 9th, but he bogeyed ten via the right-side bunker.
But just like last year, when adversity beckoned, he brushed it off. Good birdie at 15, playing to a plan, and even better two at 16. He had a good par save, and was again maybe a little bold at the last, catching the right greenside bunker and making five.
But 73 is one better than last year’s first round. In 2021 he continually bounced back from mistakes or sticky situations. There’s no reason why he can’t do so again.
Miscellany…
54 holes to go at Augusta National. #themasters https://t.co/037phvt8PU
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2022
The Masters.com website is by some margin the best in golf, perhaps the best of any sporting organisation or event anywhere. You can literally see video of every shot of every player.
And there’s no commentators getting in the way, just the (recorded) sound of birdsong and…the choice epithets of the players.
You could hear every one of Tiger’s frustrated F-bombs. But I don’t think it was him you heard when he skied another tee shot on the 11th. As clear as day over the relay came “Oh my God…What the F***”.
This being the ever-decorous Masters, it was quickly edited into silence.
Since he declared that Augusta was a par 67 for him prior to the Covid Masters in 2020, Bryson DeChambeau is +7 in nine rounds for the actual par of 72. But of course we’re calling it +52 because that’s his own, personal measurement.
Speaking of Bryson and how excited he was when they changed the rule, isn’t it interesting how absolutely nobody putts with the flag in now?
Not a fan of the new tee on 15. The wind was stronger than it looked and dead against. But the chance to charge on the back nine – that is, make birdies or better on 13 and 15 – is an intrinsic element of the excitement of Augusta National.
Just about everyone laid up. That’s a tricky third shot on the steep down-slope, as we know. But it produced the shot of the day from Mackenzie Hughes.
Mackenzie Hughes gives the thank you hand wave to the fans after shanking it on 15.😭 pic.twitter.com/Nw7KEW8Lt2
— By The Flagstick (@ByTheFlagstick) April 7, 2022