Jordan Spieth leads again after day one of the Masters

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

THIS was the day when the world number one brought the front nine to its knees before Augusta National exacted terrible revenge. This was the day when Rickie Fowler, highly fancied to win his first major, took 80 shots. This was the day when Ernie Els took seven putts from three feet.

And this was the day when Jordan Spieth resumed normal service, opening his defence with an incredible round of 66. This was the opening day of the 2016 Masters - and boy did it live up to expectations.

Jason Day reached the turn in 31 strokes, continuing the brilliant form that saw him win the Bay Hill Invitational and Dell World Matchplay. He sat in the clubhouse shellshocked 41 shots later. He would have taken a 72 before the start of play - most of them would. But this was a brutal return to reality for a man who has done no wrong in recent weeks and is in search of his second successive major. 

He dropped a shot at the par-five 15th, where everybody else was picking one up, and then he took six at the par-three 16th after finding the water. Augusta always gets its revenge on anybody who threatens to make it look silly,

And that pain was inflicted upon Els before his day had really begun. On the very first hole, he was three feet from the hole in three, ahead of a routine par. He walked off the green having taken seven more to get the ball into the hole. It was agony to watch. And it was unbelievable.

One of his playing partners was Day, who couldn't take in what he was watching. said: “It’s the first time ever I’ve seen anything like that. I feel for Ernie. I didn’t realise he was fighting stuff like that upstairs with the putter. But it’s painful for players to go through that," Day said. “I’ve had sort of chipping yips and hitting yips before, but not to a certain degree where he was missing one and two foot putts. You just don’t want to see any player go through something like that, because it can be sometimes career ending for guys like that if they really are fighting it that much.”

Spieth had a bogey-free round. The most remarkable thing about it was not the six birdies but his incredible powers of recovery. When he missed greens (and he missed plenty), he missed them in the right place. Time and again, he produced miraculous recovery shots. After six holes he had taken seven putts - the same total that Els managed on the first green. He has played nine competitive rounds at Augusta, has never shot anything worse than a 72 and is 29 under par. 

Spieth, who is looking to become just the fourth player after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods to successfully defend the year’s first major championship, led from start to finish after an opening 64 last year and was quickly into his stride with birdies on the third, sixth and eighth.

The world number two, who set records for the highest number of birdies (28) and lowest 36 and 54-hole totals in Masters history last year, also birdied the 10th, 13th and 18th, but was equally pleased to scramble pars on the 11th, 12th and 16th.

“I would have signed for two under today and not even played the round, knowing the conditions that were coming up,” said Spieth. “I got a lot out of the round with what I felt like was kind of average-ish ball-striking. I got the most I could probably get out of my round today. I think the round today may have been better than the first round last year because of the conditions, I definitely could make that argument.”

And there was great news for Europe. 

Spieth leads by two from Shane Lowry and New Zealand’s Danny Lee, with Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Soren Kjeldsen all a shot behind on three under.

Rory McIlroy, who is seeking a first Masters title to complete the career grand slam, was a shot further back alongside Danny Willett, with McIlroy dropping shots on the 16th and 18th and Willett making his only bogey of the day on the last.

McIlroy’s score was his second best opening round in eight appearances and represented an improvement on last year, when a 71 left him seven behind Spieth. “If someone had given me a 70 for the first day I probably would have taken it,” said McIlroy, who needs to win a first green jacket to complete the career grand slam.The conditions were tough out there. They were tricky and it was tough to hole putts. The par threes were tough but I played the par fives the way I wanted to.

“I was a little bit disappointed with the finish and the loose shot on 18 but I just need to go out there tomorrow and try and get those two shots back as quick as I can and then stick to my game plan, which is to take advantage of the par fives. If I can do that I won’t be too far away at the end of the week.

“It was one of my better starts at Augusta. I am in the top 10 (tied ninth) and as I said at the start of the week it’s important to make a good start. It would have been nice to have been a couple of shots better but I think 70 in those conditions was pretty good.

“I was a little angry coming off the 18th green but if I look back on it I hit some good shots, missed some opportunities and it could have been a bit better but I need to stay patient and realise that my score was good today and I am not too far behind the guys at the top of the leaderboard.”

Casey, who played with Spieth, said: “That was a flawless round of golf. When he got into trouble.... he bailed out in the right place and what could have been an error, he turned into a wonderful par save. It was absolutely flawless. One of the toughest days I’ve ever seen around Augusta National. I played a wonderful round of golf, but it was great to have a front row seat to watch that.”

Like Day, Lowry made the turn in 31 before signing for a four-under-par 68. “I’m sure I’m going to be sitting back tonight thinking at some stage about wearing a green jacket. I’m only human. I’m going to do that,” Lowry said.

“But I’ve just got to kind of give myself a slap in the face and get myself back into reality and try to get down to business and keep hitting good shots and see where that leaves me at the end of the week.

“Winning a major obviously is a big deal, it’s something that you want to do as a golfer and it’s nice seeing my name up there. But it’s a long way to go yet, especially around this place. You’re only ever a bad bounce away from a bit of a disaster, so you’ve just got to keep your head on. You’ve just got to keep trying to hit good shots and hit towards your targets and hopefully make a few putts, and that’s all I’m going to try and do.”

Lowry missed the cut on his Masters debut last year.