Day One at the Masters

We are covering the Masters this week and will have an inside look at players, weather, and who will win the prestigious Green Jacket.

6:15 PM
Rory McIlroy is off to an good start

It is hard to believe that McIlroy is playing in his 16th Masters. This is the one major that has eluded him as he tries to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods as the only players to win all four majors.

It’s been well-documented how close McIlroy has come. Along with his runner-up in 2022, he has finished in the top ten seven times. At 34 years old, he is in his prime. But at the same time, the sands of time say that if he wants to win that grand slam, he has to get cooking. If he were to win this year, he would be below the number of times that Sergio Garcia won in 2017 at the age of 37.

Here is a look at those that took the most appearances to win their first Masters:

19 – Sergio Garcia
14 – Billy Casper
13 – Ben Crenshaw
12 – Adam Scott
12 – Raymond Floyd
11 – Tommy Aaron
10 – Dustin Johnson
10 – Angel Cabrara
10 – Hideki Matsuyama
10 – Ben Hogan
10 – Sam Snead
10 – Cary Middlecoff

Now McIlroy is on a list of 12 players missing just one major. Those players are:
Jim Barnes – Missing the Masters
Tommy Armour – Missing the Masters
Walter Hagen – Missing the Masters
Byron Nelson – Missing the British Open
Sam Snead – Missing the U.S. Open
Arnold Palmer – Missing the PGA Championship
Lee Trevino – Missing the Masters
Raymond Floyd – Missing the British Open
Tom Watson – Missing the PGA Championship
Phil Mickelson – Missing the U.S. Open
Jordan Spieth – Missing the U.S. Open
Rory McIlroy – Missing the Masters

A lot has been said about McIlroy’s failure to win the Masters. He’s been close, including a four-shot collapse at the 2011 Masters.

Back in 1984, I was producing “Inside the PGA Tour.” In doing some feathers for the U.S. Open I talked with several players, one being Sam Snead. We talked about the 1939 U.S. Open, in which Snead was playing the 72nd hole, a par 5. All Snead needed was par to win, bogey to tie. Instead, Snead made a triple bogey eight on the hole.

“After that, I was finished at the U.S. Open,” Snead said.
“It seemed like a clock in which time was running out, and I could feel the pressure of not winning the U.S. Open.”

Snead played in 41 U.S. Opens before ending it in 1977. Along with being the runner-up in his first Open in 1937, he had three other runner-ups in 1947 (lost in a playoff), 1949, and 1953.

Also, look at the struggles of Phil Mickelson, who was runner-up five times in the U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer had three runner-up finishes in the PGA Championship before he played his 37th final in 1994. Tom Watson had 33 PGA Championship starts, with one runner-up, losing a playoff to John Mahaffey in 1978. Lee Trevino played in 20 Masters and could only muster up a pair of T-10th finishes. Trevino regrets his poor attitude in playing Augusta National, saying it never favored his game. But as he grew older, he admitted that was no excuse; he was a great player and should have found a way of beating the course instead of having the course beat him.

The point is that each of those (except Jordan Spieth, who is still young) feels that you reach a point in which your mind just can’t comprehend things, and you just fail after that.

There is no telling on McIlroy’s true feelings; we just have to hope that he finds that happy spot that can carry him over to win a green jacket.

The one thing that is in his favor is going out of his way to fly to Las Vegas to meet with legendary coach Butch Harman will pay off in the long run. Butch does more headwork instead of grooving a swing. I saw it with players like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, Butch spent five minutes on a range, and all he had to do was give out a pep talk.

As for McIlroy’s first round, I like how he pulled himself and saved his round with a back nine 35 to shoot 71. I am always worried about players like DeChambeau sprinting out of the box early and then wearing themselves out. I can see McIlroy in the mix on Sunday.

5:00 PM
Bryson DeChambeau shoots a career Masters round

DeChambeau started his day birdie-birdie-birdie and ended his day birdie-birdie-birdie-par to shoot 65 today. In his previous 24 Masters rounds, he had only broken par six times and had only three rounds in the 60s. His previous best Masters round was in the first round in 2019 when he shot 66 for a share of the lead with Brooks Koepka. Bryson went on to shoot 75-73-70 to finish T29th.

First-round 65s have been shot in 12 Masters, with Jon Rahm winning last year, Dustin Johnson in 2020, and Raymond Floyd in 1976.
Bryson has played in 28 majors and in those had, or shared the first-round lead twice, at the 2019 Masters (finished T-29th) and the 2023 PGA Championship (finished T-4th).

The big question on everyone’s mind is what Bryson will do the rest of the week.  Despite some bad press when he claimed his par around Augusta National was just 67, he has shown potential in the past. In 2019, when he had a share of the Masters lead, he shot 75-73-70 to finish T-29th. The only other time he had a share of the first-round lead in a major was the 2023 PGA Championship, where he shot 66-71-70-70 to finish T-4th. This history of first-round leads in majors adds an element of suspense to his future performance.
The good news is that Bryson has shown signs of his game improving. He started the year 26th at Mayakoba and has since been 11th in Las Vegas, 4th at Jeddah, 7th at Hong Kong, and 7th at Miami.

I see him shooting over par on Friday for my money but still finishing in the top ten.

4:30 PM
Tiger shows off some flash with a birdie at one

Normally we don’t make a big deal over Tiger Woods starting a tournament with a birdie which he did today in the first round of the Masters. In the 25 previous Masters Tiger has made 382 birdies, but on the first hole he has only made 8. Today he made a eight footer for birdie to start his day. It was his first birdie since the first round in 2020, Tiger went on to finish T-38th.

3:45 PM
Beware of the Walking Wounded

2016 Masters Champion Danny Willett made a stunning start in the tournament, surprising everyone with a score of 68 in the first round. This was not only his best first round in nine Masters starts but also his third Masters round in the 60s. His career-best round at the Masters was a remarkable 66 in the second round of 2021, where he finished the week at T-28th.

What makes his round remarkable is that this week is the first time Willett has played competitively since the BMW PGA Championship in September. 2023 was a challenging year for Willett, starting at the Fortinet Championship. He had a one-shot lead over Max Homa going into the 72nd hole and hit his third shot just a bit over three feet from the hole. Homa missed the green with his third shot, which looked like Willett’s sure victory. Homa was 32 feet off the green and holed his chip for a birdie, but Willett still was just 3 feet, 7 inches away from a victory. He hit the putt a bit too hard; it glanced off the left edge of the cup and left him with 4 feet, 8 inches. He missed the putt coming back, three-putting from just over three feet, and found himself in second place. Instead of winning first place and $1.44 million, Willett went home with $872,000, so the three putts could be one of the costlier three putts, costing Willett $568,000.

Following the Fortinet Championship, Willett’s rest of the season was challenging. His best finish was T-18th at the Genesis Invitational, indicating a struggle to regain his form and consistency. Afterward, he struggled with his game and felt pain in his shoulder. Willett looked set to challenge for a second BMW PGA Championship title in September when he covered his first 12 holes in six under par, only to aggravate a shoulder tear after hitting his tee shot on the 15th. He played through the pain barrier and completed all 72 holes at Wentworth but underwent surgery the following week and faced a tough time getting ready at Augusta. He had been rehabbing, and today’s 68 was his first round since September 17th.

This means something other than running down and placing a large bet on Willett. According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Willett was +100,000 to win the Masters, which meant on a $10 bet, you would get just over $10,000 in return. Now, his odds will go seriously down after this, but I still wouldn’t rush out and put a bet on him for the rest of the week.

2:30 pm
Ryan Fox ties the record for the first nine 31

Fox got off to a great start by making birdies at one and followed that with birdies at two and three. Hard to believe in Masters history, 26 others have started their Masters birdie-birdie-birdie.

At the eighth hole, he made an eagle and, with a par at nine, shot a 31. In the history of the Masters, 13 others have completed the first nine in 31, the last being Sam Burns last year (Burns went on to finish T-29th).

2:00 pm
Christo Lamprecht Half Hour of Fame

Lamprecht’s path to the Masters was paved with victory. He emerged triumphant in the prestigious British Amateur Championship at Hillside Golf Club. In a thrilling 36-hole final, he overcame the formidable Ronan Kleu with a score of 3 & 2, earning his place in the Masters tournament.

Playing alongside his childhood idol, Charl Schwartzel, Lamprecht made a memorable start at the Masters. He showcased his prowess by birdieing two, then six and seven, bringing his score to an impressive three under for the day. Despite a minor setback with a bogey on nine, Lamprecht joined the elite ranks of amateurs who have started the Masters with a 34, a feat achieved by only 11 players in the tournament’s history.

Here is some background on Lamprecht.

At 6’8″, Lamprecht is one of the tallest players in golf. At 6’9″, South African James Hart du Preez is considered the tallest; he plays on the Sunshine Tour and sometimes on the DP World Tour. Hart du Preez played twice on the PGA Tour in 2022, missing the cut at the American Express and AT&T Byron Nelson. Another 6’9″ player is Jonathan Thomson, who is supposed to be a notch shorter than Hart du Preez but still is the tallest player to participate in a major. He missed the cut in the 2021 British Open.

On the PGA Tour, the tallest winner is Phil Blackmar, who won twice at the 1985 Travelers and 1997 Shell Houston Open. Now, the tallest major winner is George Archer, who was six foot-5-and-a-half when he won the 1969 Masters. So the question is whether Lamprecht is the tallest player to participate in the Masters. No, it’s a tie; in 1996, 6’8″ Scotsman Gordon Sherry was the tallest and will now share the honors with Lamprecht.

The big question is whether Lamprecht will stay at the Crows Nest. That is several rooms in an attic space at the top of the Augusta National clubhouse. It is a tradition for amateurs to stay in it, but the only problem is the tiny space needs to be more significant. The odds of the Crows Nest having a bed that can accommodate a 6 foot eight human is slim. So slim that in 1996, Gorden Sherry declined the chance to stay in the Crows Nest above the clubhouse. As Sherry said, “It was tiny, and I’m not, so I stayed in a house ten minutes away instead”. Still, Lamprecht told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Monday night will be his Crows Nest night, and he said it was a unique experience, but he didn’t get much sleep.

1:30 pm
What is it with this Augusta weather?

I have been coming to the Masters since 1984. For most of the years between ’85 and 1997, there were only three delays, all on Saturdays due to adverse weather. But something in Augusta, the country, or the world has changed. Call it global warming or just blind luck, but since 1998, those 26 years saw at least one delay 15 times. Right now, a storm front is moving through Augusta; it started to rain at 3 a.m. and delayed tee times until 10:30.

I came to the golf course at around ten, and looking at my phone, I saw between 35 and 40 lightning strikes just south of us. As of noon, it looks like the dangerous weather never materialized, and we are supposed to have great weather over the course of today and the three days of the tournament.
Some need to understand that Augusta is, of course, like any event that holds a big golf tournament at the mercy of Mother Nature. The years they get a lot of rain are the years they have low scores. But scores would go through the roof in the year of no rain and wind. A perfect example was in 2006 when Augusta had a dry spring going into the Masters, which made the course play firm and fast. On top of that, it was 65 degrees on Thursday, the warmest day of the tournament. The high on Saturday was 51, and Sunday was 56. Winds blew between 10-15 the first two days and then 12-17 over the weekend with gusts of 23 MPH. Zach Johnson won with a score of 289, one over par.

In the 87 years of the Masters, one over has been the highest winner score ever, with Sam Snead doing it in 1954, Jackie Burke, Jr. doing it in 1956, and then Zach Johnson doing it 51 years later in 2007.
As I gaze out over the driving range, the sky is clearing. Given the current scores, it’s clear that those who played early had an advantage. If the winds pick up, it could pose a challenge for those teeing off in the afternoon. This strategic element adds another layer of excitement to the tournament.