Tour Confidential: What was the biggest surprise on Day 1 of the Masters?

Day 1 at the 2024 Masters is complete, and while a 2 1/2-hour weather delay means some players (including Tiger Woods) need to finish their first round on Friday morning, we learned plenty on Thursday at Augusta. Bryson DeChambeau shot 65 and leads, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 66 and Tiger looked solid early. After all that happened on Thursday, what’s the biggest surprise of the tournament so far?

Jack Hirsh, assistant editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I was so down on Tiger this year. He kept up the whole, “If I’m here, I think I can win” spiel despite the fact he’s only finished 72 holes twice in official events since his car accident. Then he stepped to the first tee, striped it down the fairway and hit an 8-iron onto the green to set up birdie. And while he just parred 13 before darkness ended his round, he was still at one under with five holes to go. He made some ridiculously hard up and downs look simple. His distance control was superb. He didn’t look like a guy who is rusty. They say you can’t win the Masters on Thursday, but you can lose it. It might still be a long shot that Tiger gets green jacket No. 6, but he hasn’t yet lost this Masters and he’s in very good position to make his record-breaking 24th consecutive cut.

Zephyr Melton, assistant editor (@zephyrmelton): I gotta go with Bryson DeChambeau’s sparkling 65. He’s flown under the radar a bit since joining LIV (at least compared to his PGA Tour days), but on Thursday he was in rare form. He opened with three straight birdies, and closed with a trio as well as he posted his career low round at Augusta National. Bryson has never played particularly well at Augusta (his low finish came as an amateur) but Thursday may well have been a turning point. If so, there’s no reason not to believe the former U.S. Open winner won’t be a factor come Sunday.

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Jessica Marksbury, senior editor (@jess_marksbury): I’ll go with Hideki Matsuyama. The 2021 winner came into the event in great form with a win and three top-12s in his last four starts, and he was on many short lists to win this year. But after an opening-round four-over 76, he might’ve dug a hole too deep a hole to recover from.   

Ryan Barath, senior equipment editor (@rdsbarath): Beyond Bryson coming out of blazing, I agree with Jess that seeing Hideki come out flat was shocking. With the windy conditions and his ball-striking ability, I expected him to be contending at the start of the day. Also, seeing Tiger come out and stalk his way around Augusta National until the sun went down was equal parts surprising and awesome. Here’s to hoping he can keep it up.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): Scottie Scheffler’s second shot on 13 hanging on the bank of the creek and staying dry was surprising, and unfair. He is too good to need a good break. Otherwise, I think my colleagues have the big surprises fairly well covered. Brooks Koepka still has the par 5s on the second side to play, so there’s still a chance to get it into red, but I was expecting more of a statement from him out of the box. And then there’s Danny Willett, emerging from hibernation to go four under. These things happen in opening rounds, though. The real surprise will be if Willett stays in contention.

Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): All good thoughts, friends! Let’s add Nicolai Hojgaard to the mix. He’s five under through 15. In BREEZY conditions. And as a Masters rook. Does he hold up? History says probably not. But it’ll be fun to watch, and he’s got loads of game. 

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