Augusta [US], April 12 (ANI): Scottie Scheffler, the World No. 1 put in a spotless round of 6-under 66 and trailed the leader, Bryson DeChambeau by one shot in the first round of the 88th Masters. The start, which came with the ceremonial tee-off by the legends, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, was delayed due to inclement weather in the morning.
Leading the Asian challenge after the first day was Korea’s Byeong Hun An, who celebrated his return to the Masters Tournament with a battling 2-under 70 to share ninth place.
The 32-year-old An made seven birdies, including a hat-trick to start his round, against five bogeys at Augusta National, which posed a tricky test with winds swirling all day and gusting up to 56 km/h.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship back-to-back last month, opened with a 66 as he seeks a second green jacket while five-time Masters winner Tiger Woods was 1-under through 13 holes in what is only his second tournament start of the year. Rory McIlroy, who is seeking to win the Masters for the first time to complete a career grand slam, opened with a 71.
“It’s always great getting off to a hot start, 3-under through the first three holes kind of gets you settled. I knew it was going to be a tough day today with the wind and even tomorrow,” said DeChambeau.
He added, “So a lot of patience is required around this golf course and making sure you’re just stroking on your line, putting it good, hitting good iron shots and driving it well. In order to win major championships, you’ve got to — especially out here, you’ve got to do everything well.”
Scheffler was pleased with his start, and said, “Well, it’s always nice getting around here bogey-free. I did a good job of staying patient today. We kept the golf course in front of us. And, I mean, I executed some really nice up-and-downs to keep the round going.”
“I enjoy coming here and competing in this golf tournament. You know, the first day is over and I’m off to a good start. Going into tonight I’ll just focus on going home, getting some rest. May go hit a few balls, but outside of that I’m going to go get some recovery in and some dinner and try to get some sleep.”
He did add he was surprised to see many low scores, as he started off. “When I was walking up to the first tee, I was fairly surprised with how many people were under par already. Going into today with the forecast the way it was supposed to be, and I’ve played this tournament once before in some pretty high winds, and it’s an extremely challenging golf course.
“And, yeah, I felt like today I just did a really good job of — Teddy, I would say, did a really good job of kind of guessing the wind correctly, if that makes sense. You know, we stole a few shots on the par 3s, I felt like, and then I played the par 5s well.”
Scheffler, winner of the Masters in 2022, has been very consistent. He has also been most consistent at Majors with 13 finishes in Top-25 in his last 14 starts.
He added, “I’ve always liked playing challenging golf courses, and the majors, I think, are the most difficult golf courses that we play, outside of maybe a couple TOUR events. But the majors are always very difficult challenges. It excites me. I like playing against the best players.
“I try to use that energy for some enhanced focus. And, yeah, I think those are fun weeks to be out here playing.”
Nicolai Hojgaard, in his rookie year on the PGA Tour, was lying third at 5-under but had three more holes to play.
Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, when DeChambeau was the best amateur, was tied fourth at 4-under with Max Homa, who had five more holes to play.
Indian Americans, Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala had still a few holes left. Bhatia was 1-under through 16 and Theegala was 1-over through 11.
Korean Tom Kim was even par through 11 holes as he was amongst 27 players who did not finish the first round.
Si Woo Kim returned a 74 while 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama struggled to a 76, with Ryo Hisatsune coming in with a 78 after enduring a baptism of fire in his Masters debut.
Korea’s An said, “Yeah, not bad. It was gusty out there. It wasn’t easy. I feel like I played great today, missed some short putts, but obviously it’s very gusty out there. It’s not easy to hit shots but also make some putts on slick greens like this. 2-under is not bad. I think it could have been a lot worse, but I also feel like it could have been a lot better. Hopefully the next three days, I’ll be playing a lot better than this.”
Making his fifth Masters start but his first since 2020, An, who is currently ranked seventh on the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup points list, got off to a flying start with three opening birdies from inside of six feet with some wonderful short game play.
With conditions throwing players off their strides, the powerful Korean, who hit 13 greens in regulation, fought hard to keep himself inside the top-10 of the leader board, with a 43-foot birdie on six and a 22-foot conversion on 12 – both par 3s – being further highlights although he was kicking himself with two late blemishes in the day. (ANI)
