Kevin Na had a very good day of ball striking. The same cannot be said of his putting. During his first-round 73 at the 2020 Masters, Na made history. Just not the kind of history he might’ve hoped to make.
Over his opening 18 holes, Na hit every green in regulation, becoming the first player since 2009 to accomplish the feat. However, he was not able to capitalize on those opportunities. He finished the day with 39(!) putts and became the first player in 30-plus years of record keeping at the Masters to shoot an over-par round while hitting every green in regulation.
“Hit all 18 greens in regulation and two par 5s in two,” Na said in his Instagram story after the round. “Shot 73, 39 putts is my new record!”
The round for Na was rather remarkable when taking a closer look at his stats. The four-time PGA Tour winner hit 11 fairways on the day and the previously mentioned 18 greens. Na pretty much put on a ball-striking clinic around Augusta this afternoon.
But as good as his game was tee-to-green, it was equally horrendous on the putting surfaces. He had five three-putts and ZERO one-putts, and he missed them in every way imaginable. He left them short and long, left and right. He had putts that lipped out and others that never even had a chance. Truly a remarkable display, and a reminder that in order to score well around Augusta, you need to be doing everything well.
This isn’t the first time Na has made waves for the wrong reasons. In 2011, Na made a 16 during the Valero Texas Open, the highest on Tour in over a decade. He was still able to post an 80 despite the blunder.
Na will tee off tomorrow morning after the conclusion of the darkness-suspended first round and, although we can’t be certain, we’d imagine he will spend much of his warm-up time on the practice green.
