First-round 70 bodes well for Tiger at Augusta
If you believe in good omens, Tiger Woods is right where he wants to be after the first round of the 77th Masters Tournament. On Thursday at warm and overcast Augusta National Golf Club, he shot a 2-under-par 70 to finish the day in a tie for 13th. In three of his previous four victories in the year’s first major championship, he has opened with the same score.
“I played solid today and got a good round out of it,” said the top-ranked Woods, a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR this year. “I’m very satisfied.”
Australian Marc Leishman earned the early clubhouse lead with a 66, and was joined later in the day by Sergio Garcia also at 6-under.
Paired with Luke Donald and Scott Piercy, Tiger started slowly with pars on the first five holes, but broke through with a birdie on the 180-yard, downhill, par-3 sixth, nicknamed Juniper. He added another birdie at the uphill, 570-yard, par-5 eighth (Yellow Jasmine) and parred the par-4 ninth to make the turn in 2-under 34.
After parring the par-4 10th, Woods played famed Amen Corner — holes 11, 12 and 13 — in an admirable 1-under. He two-putted 11 and 12 for pars, then reached the 510-yard, par-5 13th (Azalea) and hit a wonderful lag putt from long range to three feet to secure his third birdie. Tiger has now played the latter in 42-under-par during his career.
Woods made his lone bogey of the round at the 440-yard, par-4 14th, where he pulled his second shot and three-putted. Interestingly, the 14th green was rebuilt after last year’s tournament, the only major change to the course.
At the 530-yard, par-5 15th, Tiger flushed a big drive and had only 197 yards left to the green. However, he blocked his downhill second shot to the right of the putting surface, dropping his club in frustration, hit a delicate bump-and-run chip six feet beyond the cup, and missed the putt, failing to take advantage of a great birdie opportunity.
Woods parred the last three holes. He made a nice two-putt at the par-3 16th, just missed a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th, and made a solid two-putt par at the par-4 18th. Tiger, who leads the PGA Tour in putting, finished with 30 on the day.
“I thought I putted well today,” he said. “I left myself some pretty good little par saves and I was able to make those.”
Woods hit 13 of 18 greens and 9 of 14 fairways in regulation.
Last year, Tiger only managed to play the par-5s in 1-under for the tournament. Thursday, he toured them in 2-under.
Overnight thunderstorms are in the forecast, which could soften the course Friday. Woods said he would adjust his game plan accordingly, but added, “You continue hitting greens and continue putting the ball in the right spots. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Tiger is scheduled to begin second round play Friday at 1:41 p.m. ET with Donald and Piercy.
