Check in each day of this week’s Masters for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topic in the tournament, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.
Thursday of this November Masters is in the books. Round one continues Friday, as storms delayed the start by about three hours. When play did begin, Paul Casey grabbed the lead with a 7-under 65, Tiger Woods tied his best-ever opening round at Augusta, a host of players went low, Bryson DeChambeau started high and finished low, and Sandy Lyle wore suspenders. What stands out to you as the biggest surprise of day one?
What it’s like to be at this unusual, uncluttered Masters (hint: amazing)
Sean Zak, senior editor (@sean_zak): Tiger Woods is the biggest surprise. Bogey free. Smooth. Calm. No worries. Sixty-eight after nine months of no-good competitive golf? That’s surprising.
Luke Kerr-Dineen, director of game improvement (@LukeKerrDineen): The relative lack of long hitters at the very top of the leaderboard. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not only short hitters occupying the top spots, but for the past few days, we were told a soggy Augusta National was going to be a bombers paradise. Instead, soft, receptive greens turned the course into a dart-throwers paradise. When Augusta National bakes, the firm greens mean the only way you can access the pins is to hit spinny wedge shots, which puts a premium on longer drives. With the course as soft as it was today, that wasn’t the case. 7-irons were sticking and stopping. That brought the Webb Simpsons, the Lee Westwoods and the Paul Caseys of the world into play, and marginalized the advantages of some of the longer hitters.
Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): Luke, how dare you leave Larry Mize off that list! What a day for the 62-year-old who hits his driver as long as most guys in the field hit their 2-irons — a two-under 70! Will he stick around and stay in the mix over the weekend? Surely not. But for one glorious day, Mize made six birdies and posted the same score as, yep, big, bad Bryson DeChambeau. Ain’t golf great?
Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): The biggest surprise is that there was no huge surprise. The soft conditions? We’ve seen short hitters shine in those before (Mike Weir/Zach Johnson). Woods playing well at Augusta? Even with his scruffy play of late, that’s not so unexpected, given his history here. Look at the top of the leaderboard. It’s stocked with players who have great track records at Augusta, along with a few who have simply had standout seasons so far. Oftentimes, we see an outlier shoot a torrid first round. I might say that having a 63-year old at three-under is a shocker, but since it’s Bernhard Langer, no stunner there either.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer: This is absurdly selfish to say but has the advantage of being true: The biggest surprise of the day was the astounding joy a person could get by walking the course and watching the golf when there were more caddies and players than spectators. Sorry.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer (@alanshipnuck): The biggest surprise was that it still felt like the Masters. Even without fans and flowers (and Sergio), Augusta National remains the game’s grandest stage, and it put on a heckuva show.
Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): I totally agree with all of the above, and I’ll add another to the mix just for discussion. I was surprised at how much I missed seeing the patrons. No fans is not new this year. But the atmosphere at Augusta just seemed really odd. Cold. Even though it was warm. They’re as big a part of this thing as the players and the green jackets, and Thursday confirmed that.
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