Disregarding any superstitious thought that he who wins the par 3 contest cannot win the Masters in the same year, Tim Clark, the one who often makes provocative but not rude, remarks about Tiger Woods, was the clubhouse leader early in the day.
The experienced, cowboy hat-wearing Shingo Katayama of Japan was about to overtake him at 5 under after the 16th, while Chad Campbell had just birdied the first five holes; Tigers’ drive on the first was dead straight down the middle, Jeev had a miraculous par save after a bad first hole drive and the teen wonders Ryo and Rory, playing together, were awaiting to hit their first-ever competitive shots in the Masters.
That’s just one minute of the drama that is going on here. It changes all the time. The much-vaunted Tiger was only level par after the first nine but could easily have been 5 under for the day, lapping three entirely makeable putts and properly mucking up the 18th by first over-clubbing right into the crowd and then mis- hitting his chip, thus ending up in the seventies yet again.
He has never shot in the sixties in the first round of any Masters that he has played but, having finished the first round at seventy four times, he has won three times from there.
That surely is a dread warning to several such as Chad (-7), Furyk/Mahan (-6), and the popular Katayama who is joined, surprisingly, by the 51-year-old Larry Mize (known for the 140-foot chip in on the second play-off hole of the 1987 Masters, beating Norman) at 5 under.
The legion of great aspirants below par are all capable of mounting a fair challenge but the rest, including the redoubtable Lefty (Mickelson), can be written off as far as winning is concerned.
More From This Section
It was super to see the old warhorse, Norman, at 54, put up such a spirited performance to finish at 2 under. That really is outstanding character and, as far as this correspondent is concerned, the ghost of 1996 can be put to rest.
The day began nice and cool but the appreciative reception that was accorded to Arnold Palmer as he struck the ceremonial first drive to start proceedings was exceedingly warm. Augusta National where the Masters is staged is full of a quiet reverence quite appropriate to the history of the place and the presence of these great living legends. New legends are being created and they in turn will perform these or similar duties in due course.
The early starters put the new criticism of the lengthening and tightening up of the course to flight as the leader board quickly became awash in red.
Conditions, with temperatures at a moderate 76 degrees F with 5-10 mph breezes, were perfect and similar weather is expected virtually throughout the tournament.
Winning scores could be below 270, the record that Tiger set some years back; but then records are made to be broken and maybe Tiger will break this one himself. Fifty-five of the top 56 ranked players are part of this field. Each time one thinks of who might win, numerous other possibilities thrust themselves forward demanding that they not be ignored. Thus, last year’s champion, Immelman started poorly but picked up very well near the end to finish in the red numbers, as did his predecessor, Zach Johnson.
Not to be outdone, Paddy Harrington’s hat is very much in the ring, although he does not make much of a fuss or bother and, remarkably, the press is also not bothering about him much.
That suits Paddy just fine as he gets down to the serious business of compiling a tidy score.Talking of the press, there is a huge phalanx of Japanese media pursuing the “bashful prince”. Ryo performed creditably for his first day out, much better than many more experienced players and at only one over seems to be a certainty to be playing over the weekend. The welcome surprise for them of course was Katayama san. Rory, too, produced an excellent par round and both these youngsters have shown what they are capable of. There were some exciting saves and shots bordering on the brilliant.
Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, dressed and turned out like a model as he was (white shoes, broad white belt, white cap barely covering his curls and all the rest in black), just could not get it going. But tomorrow is another day.Jeev was also slow to start and was quite unfortunate to not have a significantly better score. Seeing him with Tiger, often walking and talking with him on several holes so perfectly naturally, and matching him shot for shot, one would think them as equals. But maybe they will be, in this tournament.
When Jeev, eagled the 13th (only one of two players to do so), he was ahead of Woods. There is no doubt that he is not only playing very well but also is supremely confident, without the arrogance.There is no real pressure yet; just a walk in the park; tomorrow is another day and that will reduce the field by about half (10 shots back from the leader, so everyone is hoping the leaders do not get too far ahead!) and then the real contest will begin.
Also read:
APRIL 8: No slowdown handicaps this competition!
APRIL 9: Who’ll stay the course for the Green Jacket?
APRIL 10: The Par 3 course ‘bogey’ and living legends