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Apr. 10—AUGUSTA — It is inevitably said during the first round of any golf tournament, from the junior ranks all the way up to the Masters Tournament.
You can't win the tournament on day one, but you can certainly lose it.
Just as certain as that phrase is to be uttered are the eye rolls that follow, but there's plenty of truth to it.
Maybe an asterisk is necessary as it relates to the Masters, because players certainly want to be near the lead by the time round one comes to a close.
Of the last 10 Masters champions, only Tiger Woods in 2019 was outside of the top 10 after round one — he was tied for 11th after opening with a 2-under 70, and even that requires a footnote as it has been his lucky number of sorts at Augusta National Golf Club, with four of his five titles starting with a 70.
The first-round scoring average of those 10 victories, from Jordan Spieth's 64 in 2015 that appeared to signify a long reign of terror at the Masters to Scottie Scheffler's 66 last year that may portend the same, is 67.8. Spieth, Dustin Johnson in 2020 and Jon Rahm in 2023 each held at least a share of the lead after 18 holes en route to victory.
Needless to say, the players at the 2025 Masters are very much aware of this trend, and anything in the red was going to be considered a good start to the week.
"Really good start overall," said 30-year-old Masters rookie Aaron Rai, who opened with a 70. "Without playing this course under competitive conditions before, it's very difficult to figure out how the course is going to play in the flow of it. We did a nice amount of practice at the start of the week in February, but I really didn't know how the course was going to play just with that lack of experience. Yeah, very, very pleased with how it went overall today."
Rai went on an early birdie spree and eventually reached 4 under at the turn before giving a couple of shots back on the back nine, but that couldn't dampen his enthusiasm about an under-par round.
"Yeah, definitely beyond expectations. Played really nicely," he said. "Holed a couple of nice putts for birdie and a couple of nice putts to keep the round going early on. I tried not to get too far ahead of myself, but I knew there were some difficult holes coming up, especially around the midsection of this round, around 12 and 13. Tried to stay as present as possible, and the course definitely called me out on that middle section today. Yeah, great start and great first round overall."
The magic number early in the day was 4 under, with Canada's Corey Conners finishing birdie-birdie to shoot 68 while Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose reached that score early in their rounds.
For Conners, who had three consecutive top 10s here from 2020-22, starting the round nicely helped manage some nerves which then helped him avoid compounding any errors. He's learned that getting flustered leads to more difficult recovery shots, so he's tried to keep things loose and fun as he makes his way around Augusta National.
"Yeah, you always feel good coming off the course when you post a good number," he said. "So, yeah, happy with the way I battled hard on some of the holes. I was a little bit out of position, just trying to get the ball up-and-down or two-putt. Yeah, definitely feels good to add up to a low round."
Obviously Sunday is a long ways away, but a good start is key. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy hasn't broken 70 in the first round here since 2018, which has severely hindered his hopes of completing the career Grand Slam.
"Overall, I'm very satisfied with the round," said Michael Kim, who opened with a 71. "Anything under par today, I think is going to be a good score. The winds are — it's not incredibly strong, but it's kind of gusty and switching directions here and there. A lot of gratitude and just overall lots of good feelings about how I played here compared to how I played here last year."
That's not to say players who have a rough opening round need to throw the clubs in the trunk and motor down Washington Road, but it may require a refocusing of expectations.
"I think you stand on the 1st tee and sign for 3-under each day and you feel like you're walking up the 18th with a lead or with a chance," Spieth said Wednesday. "There's a chance it would be a little harder this year, but a lot of it just depends on what they end up doing with pin placements and if the wind kicks up. ... I think, if you can get through the first couple rounds in a good spot, then I can answer that question a little bit better for you. The second I answer it, I may be off by 10 shots here, you know?"
Continue reading...
You can't win the tournament on day one, but you can certainly lose it.
Just as certain as that phrase is to be uttered are the eye rolls that follow, but there's plenty of truth to it.
Maybe an asterisk is necessary as it relates to the Masters, because players certainly want to be near the lead by the time round one comes to a close.
Of the last 10 Masters champions, only Tiger Woods in 2019 was outside of the top 10 after round one — he was tied for 11th after opening with a 2-under 70, and even that requires a footnote as it has been his lucky number of sorts at Augusta National Golf Club, with four of his five titles starting with a 70.
The first-round scoring average of those 10 victories, from Jordan Spieth's 64 in 2015 that appeared to signify a long reign of terror at the Masters to Scottie Scheffler's 66 last year that may portend the same, is 67.8. Spieth, Dustin Johnson in 2020 and Jon Rahm in 2023 each held at least a share of the lead after 18 holes en route to victory.
Needless to say, the players at the 2025 Masters are very much aware of this trend, and anything in the red was going to be considered a good start to the week.
"Really good start overall," said 30-year-old Masters rookie Aaron Rai, who opened with a 70. "Without playing this course under competitive conditions before, it's very difficult to figure out how the course is going to play in the flow of it. We did a nice amount of practice at the start of the week in February, but I really didn't know how the course was going to play just with that lack of experience. Yeah, very, very pleased with how it went overall today."
Rai went on an early birdie spree and eventually reached 4 under at the turn before giving a couple of shots back on the back nine, but that couldn't dampen his enthusiasm about an under-par round.
"Yeah, definitely beyond expectations. Played really nicely," he said. "Holed a couple of nice putts for birdie and a couple of nice putts to keep the round going early on. I tried not to get too far ahead of myself, but I knew there were some difficult holes coming up, especially around the midsection of this round, around 12 and 13. Tried to stay as present as possible, and the course definitely called me out on that middle section today. Yeah, great start and great first round overall."
The magic number early in the day was 4 under, with Canada's Corey Conners finishing birdie-birdie to shoot 68 while Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose reached that score early in their rounds.
For Conners, who had three consecutive top 10s here from 2020-22, starting the round nicely helped manage some nerves which then helped him avoid compounding any errors. He's learned that getting flustered leads to more difficult recovery shots, so he's tried to keep things loose and fun as he makes his way around Augusta National.
"Yeah, you always feel good coming off the course when you post a good number," he said. "So, yeah, happy with the way I battled hard on some of the holes. I was a little bit out of position, just trying to get the ball up-and-down or two-putt. Yeah, definitely feels good to add up to a low round."
Obviously Sunday is a long ways away, but a good start is key. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy hasn't broken 70 in the first round here since 2018, which has severely hindered his hopes of completing the career Grand Slam.
"Overall, I'm very satisfied with the round," said Michael Kim, who opened with a 71. "Anything under par today, I think is going to be a good score. The winds are — it's not incredibly strong, but it's kind of gusty and switching directions here and there. A lot of gratitude and just overall lots of good feelings about how I played here compared to how I played here last year."
That's not to say players who have a rough opening round need to throw the clubs in the trunk and motor down Washington Road, but it may require a refocusing of expectations.
"I think you stand on the 1st tee and sign for 3-under each day and you feel like you're walking up the 18th with a lead or with a chance," Spieth said Wednesday. "There's a chance it would be a little harder this year, but a lot of it just depends on what they end up doing with pin placements and if the wind kicks up. ... I think, if you can get through the first couple rounds in a good spot, then I can answer that question a little bit better for you. The second I answer it, I may be off by 10 shots here, you know?"
Continue reading...
