10 Things to Remember From Day 1 at 2023 Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The first round of the Masters Tournament is in the books. Here are your highlights, lowlights and hazard lights…
1. Best Mongolian Reversal: Spain’s Jon Rahm opened the tournament by four-putting the first green for a double bogey. Then he racked up seven birdies and an eagle en route to 65 and a share of the lead with Brooks Koepka and Norway’s Viktor Hovland. “If you're going to make a double or four-putt or anything, it might as well be the first hole,” Rahm said. “You’ve got 71 holes to make it up.”
2. The Tiger Report: It was not a good day for Tiger Woods, who posted a 2-over-par 74. That score isn’t awful but considering how low the scores were in the opening round, it was the next-best-thing to awful, leaving him nine shots out of the lead after 18 holes. He didn’t putt well, ranking well into the bottom half of the putting statistics and despite his attempts at a poker face, he appeared to be in pain at times.
The par 3s are considered Augusta National’s strength but Woods made three pars and a birdie at the 16th. He was two under par on the par 5s but played in the par 4 holes in 4 over with bogeys at the 3rd, 5th (three-putt); 7th; 11th; and 18th.
Said Tiger: “I didn’t do the job I need to do to get the ball close. Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it. Hopefully, I’ll be a little bit sharper tomorrow.”
3. Fastest Out of the Gate: Texas A&M amateur Sam Bennett, playing in his first Masters, started birdie-eagle and was 3 under par through two holes. Not even Secretariat started quicker than that. Bennett shot 68. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start,” said Bennett, 23, from Madisonville, Texas. “To go around this place bogey-free is pretty cool.”
4. The United Nations Leaderboard: Before the Norwegian Hovland took early control with a front-nine 31, the Masters lead had passed through a number of hands, including a couple of Irishmen, a Pole, a Canadian, a Spaniard not named Rahm and an American.
The early-early leader was Matthew McClean, a 29-year-old amateur who is a trained optometrist and shares a coach with former Open Championship winner Shane Lowry. McClean was in the second group out and birdied the opening hole and No., 4, allowing him to lay claim that he once led the Masters, albeit briefly.
Among other temporary leaders were former Masters champ Mike Weir, a Canadian who turns 53 next month; Adrian Meronk, a 6-foot-6-inch Pole who was the first Polish winner on the European Tour and the first to play a Masters; former Masters champ Sergio Garcia, now a LIV Golf player; and Open Championship runner-up Cameron Young, who birdied the first three holes.
5. Low Standards: Thursday’s first round was played in ideal conditions, probably the best of the week (See more about the impending weather Armageddon below). Mostly overcast, warm, humid, very little wind and a course on the soft side. A dozen players shot 68 or lower and a 2-under-70 was only good for tie for 17th.
Defending champ Scottie Scheffler was among the group at 4 under par.
“I’ve never been around this place where there’s been almost no conditions,” Scheffler said. “The greens are maybe a touch slower than usual and so guys definitely got in, I’m sure, the bulk of the scoring today. We’ll see what happens. Weather can be interesting, especially if you’ve got storms coming in.”
The birdie spree included the pairing of Rahm, Cameron Smith and Justin Thomas. “I told Justin on the fourth tee, ‘What are the odds of three guys having a combined seven birdies in the first three holes?’ It doesn’t happen very often.”
6. Top Conspiracy Theory: It is illegal to give or ask for advice during competition. Brooks Koepka’s caddie was seen flashing fingers indicating the club choice (a common practice for television’s benefit) and after the round, the Master’s Competition Committee questioned caddies in the group about the incident. The committee issued a subsequent statement that said, “All involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested. Consequently, the Committee determined there was no break of the Rules.”
7. Worst Time for Return of The Wet Look: Even Noah might be saying, “Uh-oh,” at the Masters weekend weather forecast. The demoralizing outlook from the Weather Channel starts like this: “Unfortunately There’s no mincing words. Saturday looks about as awful as you can get in early April in Georgia.” Chances of showers Friday, maybe thunderstorms; heavy rain Saturday, possibly as much as two inches, with a high temperature only in the upper 40s or low 50s; and maybe, maybe not more lingering showers Sunday. At least the website didn’t jinx the tournament by mentioning there hasn’t been a Monday finish at the Masters since 1983. No, wait—they did!
8. Quote of the Day, Gold Medal: Jon Rahm, on whether he was familiar with Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros’ famous explanation about his four-putt at the 16th green in 1988: “I remembered Seve’s quote, ‘I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.’ I thought about that quote on the way to the second tee. I carried a little bit of that negative energy into the tee shot, hit it 10 yards farther than I usually do and moved on with my day.”
9. Quote of the Day, Silver Medal: Viktor Hovland on why he wore an artistic (read garish) red and green shirt: “I had nothing to do with it. I just wear what they tell me to wear. But I think I’d take this than the pink pants I had last year. So we’re making progress.”
10. Quote of the Day, Bronze Medal: Phil Mickelson on how he dropped 25 pounds: “I stopped eating food, that was a big help.”