The first day of the 87th Masters Golf Tournament took place on Thursday, April 6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia and featured some incredible storylines. Defending champions went head to head and the tensions between LIV Golf and the PGA grew even higher. Good rounds, bad rounds and completely crazy rounds, here is what you missed from the initial rounds.
There were three players tied for first after day one, all with a round of seven under par. However, not all of these rounds were equal. Viktor Hovland came through with a strong first outing, posting no bogeys, five birdies (one under par) and an eagle (two under par) on the second hole. Jon Rahm started with a very rough four putt for double bogey (two over par) on the first hole but fought his way back to seven under with seven birdies and an eagle. Brooks Koepka is an interesting addition to the group at first place, being the only LIV Golf member within the top 10. He got to seven under with eight birdies and one bogey (one over par).
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler posted a rather underwhelming round. It was clear that Scheffler was not playing at his best, missing short puts that he normally doesn’t miss. Even without his best play, he still found a way to get to four under, sitting in a tie for sixth place and only three strokes back from the lead.
One of the best narratives from Thursday’s round came from Sam Bennett, one of seven amateur golfers allowed to play in this year’s Masters. Bennett came through with a score of four under, tying with his group mate Scheffler. More impressively, Bennett had a clear scorecard in his first time playing at Augusta, ending with no bogeys, something that only a small handful of amateurs have ever accomplished.
Tiger Woods had a rough day, only sinking three birdies while putting up five bogeys, ending with a first round score of two over par. Woods consistently left himself tough looks for par with some poor iron play into the greens. He has a tall task ahead of him to stay in contention, but if anyone can bend this golf course to their will, it’s Tiger Woods.
Another notable round came from golf legend Fred Couples, who at 63 years old is one of the oldest players in the field this year. Couples posted a day one score of one under par, an incredibly impressive feat to say the least.
Will Zalatoris withdrew before his first round with an injury. Zalatoris was a favorite to win this year after finishing sixth in last year’s tournament.
The projected cut line is at one over par after day one. Currently, there are 33 players with scores worse than one over par, so they will have to put together a good Friday — pun intended — to keep playing over the weekend.
Evan Marks is a Sports Intern for the spring 2023 quarter. He can be reached at ecmarks@uci.edu.
