The 2020 Masters got off to a rollicking start on Thursday, at least after morning rainstorms delayed play for three hours. The rain made the course unusually receptive, and many players took advantage, including leader Paul Casey (seven under) and Tiger Woods (four under).
Several groupings didn’t finish their rounds before dark and will return Friday morning to complete them. Once they do, the second round will get underway. Scroll down to follow along with the action so you don’t miss a moment.
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— Paul Casey jumps out to Day 1 lead
— Tee times: See when the stars tee off
— Tiger goes low Thursday in title defense
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Tiger Woods finishes off front nine before darkness falls
We knew before the day began that Tiger Woods and many other Masters competitors would not be able to finish their second rounds on Friday, and that has proven true. Woods made his second bogey of the day, and the tournament, at the 7th hole, before playing the par-5 8th in textbook fashion to make birdie and earn that shot back. A par at the ninth gave him an even-par 36 for his first nine. Tiger opened the back nine with a par at 10. After hitting his drive on 11, he decided to call it a night and will return on Saturday morning to finish out.
Four players share lead halfway through Round 2
The top of the leaderboard at the Masters has been crowded all day, but now things are getting ridiculous. Four players are in the house at nine under through 36 holes, giving them each a share of the lead at the moment. Those players are World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, World No. 3 Justin Thomas, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith, the latter of whom went five under over his last four holes on Friday. Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im and Jon Rahm are at eight under, while three others finished their second rounds at seven under. And there are still a ton of players on the course, including Tiger Woods, who still have to finish their second rounds on Saturday morning.
Tiger gets early birdie, then gives it right back
With the lead sitting five shots ahead of him to start the day, Tiger was looking to make some noise early to get within reach of a back-nine strike. After a par at 1, Tiger got to business on the 2nd. He pounded a 340-yard drive, before leaving his second in a greenside bunker. Woods got up-and-down form there to reach five under, leaving himself just four off the lead. But fate would turn at the 3rd, where Tiger lipped out a short par putt to make his first bogey of the tournament and drop back to four under.
DeChambeau gets bad break of the century
Coming off a birdie on 2 that started with a monster drive, Bryson DeChambeau was three under for the tournament and looking to make a run at driving the green on 3. He smacked a long one, just not straight enough. It tailed to the left of the green, but not by far. TV cameras showed the ball falling somewhere about 10 yards off the fairway. But in a cruel twist of fate, Bryson, his caddie, rules officials, and a host of other people were unable to find his ball. They all presumed that it had plugged in the wet area of deep rough, but no one could say exactly where it had plugged. Because of that, it was considered a lost ball, and a dejected Bryson had to ride back to the tee with the rules official to hit another drive, his third shot. By the end of the hole, DeChambeau scribbled down a triple-bogey 7 in his scorecard, dropping him to even par.
Mickelson finishes above cut line; Woods kicks off his round
Through two rounds at the 2020 Masters, Phil Mickelson has got to be happy with his play. Mickelson backed up an opening round 69 with a 70 in the second round to reach five under at the halfway point. That will leave him comfortably above the cut line, and puts him in position to make a run on the weekend.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods finally teed off for Round 2 at 2:30 p.m. ET. He striped his drive on the 1st, but hit an ugly approach, one of his first of the tournament. No matter, Tiger made a nifty chip to a couple feet, then rolled that in for a par to remain at four under.
Bryson DeChambeau off to steady start
Bryson DeChambeau didn’t get the 2020 Masters started the way he would have like on Thursday. He still was able to reach a respectable two under, and now after waiting all Friday morning, DeChambeau is back on the course for Round 2. He was able to reach the par-4 1st green in regulation, leaving himself a lengthy birdie try from the front of the green. He nearly drained it, but his ball came to a halt on the edge of the cup. With the opening par, DeChambeau remains at two under for the tournament, uncomfortably close to the cut line.
Crowded at the top
Things are starting to get crowded at the top of this leaderboard. Masters rookie Abraham Ancer has tied Dustin Johnson for the lead, and there is a pack of four golfers one back and three more two behind. With the course playing like it is right now, expect things to continue to be bunched as the weekend progresses.
Thomas makes a charge
After four consecutive birdies to close out his back nine, Justin Thomas is tied for the lead. The second round did not get off to a great start for Thomas, as he bogeyed two of his first four holes, but birdies on Nos. 15-18 catapulted him up the leaderboard and into a tie for the lead with Sungjae Im and Dustin Johnson at eight under. Although Thomas has never won at Augusta National, he has improved each year he’s returned to the hallowed grounds, with a T12 finish last spring representing his career best Masters finish.
Amateur near the top of the leaderboard
John Augenstein is making his Masters debut, but you wouldn’t know it based on his play thus far. The amateur currently sits at six under, just three back of the lead midway through his second round. Augenstein has made just two bogeys on the week and is bogey-free in his second round as he chases Dustin Johnson’s nine-under lead.
Round 2 begins with a new leader
With the last of the stragglers finishing a weather-delayed round one, round two is officially underway from Augusta National on Friday. And just as round two kicks into action we have a new outright leader.
Dustin Johnson’s months-long heater seems to be continuing at the Masters. The World No. 1 is in the lead at eight under through two holes Friday. Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson is making a charge up the leaderboard of his own. He sits at four under for the tournament through four holes Friday.
A King’s Return
Folks, we officially have our first Jeff Knox sighting at the 2020 Masters. Golf’s most famous marker is playing on Friday to compensate for the COVID-19 WD’s of Sergio Garcia and Joaquin Niemann. As is tradition, Twitter has lost its collective mind.
Knox, an ANGC member, is known as a lightning fast player, and a legit golfer. As legend has it, he beat Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the 2014 Masters. If Rory’s opening round performance carries over into Friday, Knox could be in position for another weekend battle with the four-time major champ.
Bryson: I wish I was a little bit taller
Still no word on whether he wishes he was a baller or had a six-four Impala, but Bryson DeChambeau admits there is one physical transformation he just can’t control: his height. If he were just a little taller, Bryson says his distance would be even more prodigious.
Bryson DeChambeau’s 1 big regret: He can’t make himself taller
“I would be over 200 ball speed without even thinking about it,” he said. “Look at [long drive competitor] Fast Eddie Fernandes. He’s 6’4″, something like that, and he gets 200 no problem, so easily, because of his arm length.”
A New Leader
Dylan Frittelli has joined Paul Casey in the round one lead at seven under. Frittelli won’t have long to wait after concluding his opening round. He’ll be part of the early group out for round two on Friday morning.
Dustin Johnson (-6), Justin Thomas (-6) Sungjae Im (-5) and Justin Rose (-5) round out the remainder of the late round one tee times in the hunt through the opening 18. Johnson and Thomas, at six under, sit just one stroke off the lead.
Stock up, stock down as round 1 wraps
Stock up: Dylan Frittelli is alone in second place at six under through 13 holes. The 30-year-old South African is playing in only his second Masters in 2020, but has blended newfound power with superb wedge play through the early portion of his tournament. Meanwhile, Sungjae Im and Justin Thomas sit tied for third at five under.
Stock down: Rory McIlroy. It’s a story we’ve heard all-too-often from Rory — a brutal first round in a big moment. While the rest of the field goes low in round one, the four-time major champ is two over through 13. Perhaps the best moment in McIlroy’s opening round came when he apologized to an Augusta National member for dirtying his green jacket after a prolonged search for an errant shot. Not exactly what McIlroy had envisioned from his first round at Augusta.
1st round back underway Friday morning
Thanks to a 3-hour delay due to inclement weather Thursday morning, our November Masters got off to a slow start. And thus we didn’t finish the first round. The afternoon wave finished plenty of holes but will be back out there to clean up what is left of it Friday morning.
The resumption of play begins at 7:30 a.m. ET, which will also be broadcasted live by ESPN. That’s coffee golf, folks, and we love it.
One player to keep an eye on will be Justin Thomas. Thomas was five under through 10 Thursday, so he’ll be playing the gettable 13th and 15th around 8 a.m. After finishing his first round, he’ll turn around and head straight back to the 10th tee to begin his second round mid-morning, chasing down those gettable holes once again. He could very reasonably run up the leaderboard before noon.
Tiger Woods’ first round in the 2020 Masters was weirdly good
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It was as strange, and about as good, as any round Tiger Woods has played in any major championship.
You can shoot a first-round 68 on mechanics alone, but Tiger didn’t, even though his mechanics, for the first time all year, were excellent.
Yes, of course: Mechanics were the starting point, as they always are, for every golfer in every round. Woods, like the other 91 contestants, was playing a long, soft golf course, and he played it conventionally. He drove, for the most part, long-enough and in play. He hit irons pin-high and watched them come to a screeching halt on the mushy-for-a-day Augusta National greens. He putted solidly on a day you could putt boldly. He played few shots, approach or greenside, out of the long, wet rough.
(File this under weird-but-true: Augusta National had long, wet rough. Stu Francis, the USGA president, was walking through the long, wet rough on Thursday as he followed the Woods group. If you call the rough here the “first cut” you must be the proud owner of a club dictionary. Woods calls it the rough. He calls his green jacket a coat. He calls the pitcher’s mound at Dodger stadium “the bump.” If you follow his lead on these matters, it will serve you well. Really, if Augusta National is going to go down this we-actually-have-rough road, they should probably give the players a “courtesy cut,” a pretentious term of the biz to describe the narrow path of short grass that takes a player through the rough from tee to fairway.)
Read the rest of Michael Bamberger’s column here.
What it’s like to be at this unusual, uncluttered Masters (hint: amazing)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Thursday evening, as the sun was dipping behind a smattering of clouds and bathing Augusta National in a glorious twilight glow, Amy Mickelson stopped dead in her tracks on the hill behind the 9th green. “Can we just take a moment to admire this?” she said, mostly to herself. “I’m kind of having a moment here.”
Even if you’ve been coming to Augusta for three decades, as Amy has to cheer for her hubby Phil, there was something extraordinary about the opening day of this Masters unlike any other. A thunderstorm early Thursday morning pushed back tee times nearly three hours, forcing many competitors to play until dark, which accounted for the unusually evocative light late in the round, of which former Augusta Chronicle scribe Scott Michaux said, “The last 45 minutes of play was perhaps the most idyllic I’ve ever seen at Augusta.”
But the rest of the day had an unreal quality, too. It was so quiet you could literally hear an acorn drop. With no gallery ropes — and no gallery — the lucky few folks on the grounds could eavesdrop on every green and tee box. It felt voyeuristic. On the par-5 2nd hole, Abe Ancer went for the green after a perfect drive but wound up making a messy bogey out of the front-right bunker. On the next tee box his caddie, Dale Vallely, offered a fact-based pep talk: “It was the right risk-reward choice. That was a good spot to be in two, but it was unlucky that ball [on the third shot] took a big hop forward…”
On the 3rd tee, Mickelson (Phil, not Amy) uncorked a massive block-slice and as his ball sailed toward parts unknown, he broke the awkward silence by muttering softly what everyone was thinking: “Wow.”
Read the rest of Alan Shipnuck’s column here.
2020 Masters tee times: Second round groupings for Friday
The opening round of this year’s Masters was halted shortly after it began when heavy rain storms rolled through the course. The suspensions stretched to three whole hours, with play resuming around 10:30 a.m. ET. Fortunately for the competitors, the weather improved significantly throughout the day Thursday.
However, because of the lengthy delay, not all groups were able to finish their rounds by nightfall Thursday. Therefore, those players will have to return Friday morning to complete Round 1. As a result, second round tee times will be pushed back.
Augusta tournament organizers announced late Thursday that the second round should begin around 9:35 a.m. ET on Friday, provided there are no further delays. So you can add two and a half hours to the original Round 2 tee times. For example, Tiger Woods was initially scheduled to tee off at 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday, but now he will tee off around 2:30 p.m. ET.
Check out complete tee times for Friday’s second round here.
Paul Casey improves by a whopping 16 shots to take the lead
Nineteen months ago, the leader shot his worst-ever round at Augusta National Golf Club. Nineteen months later, the leader tied his best-ever round. A lot has changed since the last Masters. A November start date. No patrons. And Paul Casey. Here are three things you need to know after Thursday’s first round in Augusta, Ga.
Last April, Casey shot a nine-over 81 during the first round of the Masters.
Thursday, he shot a five-birdie, one-eagle, no-bogey 65. A 16-stroke improvement. He leads by two shots over Webb Simpson, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, and three shots over eight players. The first round was delayed by three hours in the morning due to storms, and it will continue Friday morning before Round 2.
Click here to read more about Thursday’s opening round at the Masters.