Recap of Round 1 at the Masters
Round one of the season’s first major is in the books and did not disappoint. There was plenty of excitement on day one of the masters, here are some of the highlights of the day.
Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player get the day going- Jack, Arnold, and Gary started the day off with the ceremonial first tee shots. It has become just as much of a tradition at Augusta for the three hall-of-famers to hit the first tee shots as the azaleas blooming and the pimento and cheese sandwiches. All three tee shots hit the fairway, each going a little farther then the other.
Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman shoot 66 to share day 1 lead- With a field that is as start studded as ever it might be a little bit of a surprise to see these two up at the top of the leaderboard. Don’t tell the two of them though. Lesihman came out and set the pace early. After bogeying the par four first hole he shot par or better on the final 17 holes including seven birdies. Garcia came out late in the afternoon and shot a bogey free round.
Rickie Fowler impresses with a 4-under 68- If you didn’t watch yesterday you would think that the Loxahatchee River resident had a good day on the course and is only two back of the leaders. His road to that 68 though was anything but easy. Fowler double 
bogeyed 1 and 10 before firing off six birdies and even had an eagle on the par 5 15th. Fowler is only the fourth golfer in Masters history to record two or more double bogeys and still finish the round under par.
Tiger, Rory, and Phil hanging around the middle of the pack- Neither of the three had overly spectacular days, but they also didn’t do anything to play themselves out of contention. Woods had the best round of the three shooting a two under par 70. The Jupiter Island resident had one bogey and three birdies and with a little better luck on the green, easily could have been four or five under. Mcllroy (Bears Club) seemed to continue to get any consistency going. While he had five birdies, the five bogies hurt him on day one. Currently in a tie for 32nd, Mcllroy is still very much in contention and a good day two will help his weekend chances greatly. Mickelson, the three time Masters winner, said after his round that he played too conservative on his way to shooting one under. He plans on playing more aggressively today and we will see how that plays out as the day goes along.
Tianlang Guan shoots an opening round 73- By far this was the story of the day. Guan is a 14 year old eighth grader from China who won an Amateur event there to even get into the tournament. Averaging only 275 yards off the tee (going in to the week it was said he could only hit 250) many people weren’t even expecting him to break 80. He shocked the golf world yesterday, including playing partner Ben Crenshaw, by making four birdies, including a tough one on 18 from the fringe, on his way to a 1 over par. Not only is Guan in prime position to make the cut (barring a rough Friday), he finished yesterday with a better round than reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson and some of the other top golfers in the world.
Other local pros in contention early after first round- Fowler’s neighbor, on the Loxahatchee River, Dustin Johnson did his part to finish day one at the top of the leader board. He tied Fowler with a 67 and both sit just two shots off the lead going into Friday. Old Palm resident Lee Westwood is sitting in a tie for 12th with woods after his 2-under par 70 on the opening day. Charl Schwartzel (Old Palm), Luke Donald (Bears Club), and Ernie Els (Jupiter) all kept themselves in contention on day one as they sit in a tie for 23rd at 1-under.
For full Masters coverage visit www.masters.com.
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