Casey shot seven under standard on Thursday, and Woods was four under, after downpour deferred the beginning of competition and left numerous golf players with incomplete rounds.
Quiet as he played his 87th round at the Masters, Tiger Woods followed the Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday with the assurance of somebody walking through his parlor looking for his #1 chair, footrest and napkin, for the cool beverage in his grasp. Shot by shot, the way was so natural he might have arranged it in obscurity.
Since Woods has won the competition multiple times and has been a Masters installation for as long as 25 years, it is conceivable he has played the green in those conditions. Probably still broken standard.
Woods, the prevailing victor, was not the pioneer after Thursday’s first-round play, which was deferred by an almost three-hour tempest that left many golf players unfit to complete their meetings. With a four-under-standard 68, Woods was tied for fourth and discreetly three strokes behind the pioneer, Paul Casey.
Yet, Woods’ telling round was the most intense assertion of the day. It has been a here and there year for Woods, yet on this day he was formed and essentially never out of position on the fiendish Augusta National design. It nearly appeared to be that he was on journey control, as though he could drift to a 68.
“I did everything well today,” Woods, who is not prone to self-congratulation, said after his round.
Each and every other prepared competitor in the field knows the Masters history when Woods has a decent opening round. It isn’t accurate that he has won each time he has shot 70 or better in the first round. It has, nonetheless, happened multiple times. He has genuinely battled on the three different events when he has been two strokes or more under standard after the main day, completing fourth twice and 6th once.
At the point when Woods was inquired as to whether he was amazed at how well he had played given his lopsided exhibitions during the main part of this season, he shrugged.
“Understanding how to play this golf course is just a big part of playing well here,” he said. “It’s so familiar.”
He knows the domain; he could discover the TV distant in the corner of his parlor, as well.
Woods’ consistent play was a distinct difference to most all that else occurring during the primary Masters round ever challenged in November. Nothing else appeared to be common, with the regularly tricky greens wet and moderate, the spring botanical tones missing and the displays missing as a result of the Covid pandemic.
“There were a lot of differences today,” Woods said. “There was a drone flying over the green. You don’t hear drones here. There were no patrons, no roars. A lot of firsts today. That’s kind of the way this entire year has been.”
Numerous players had a similar feeling of being in conspicuous, yet modified, place. Xander Schauffele shot a splendid 67 to complete the day in a tie for second with Webb Simpson, however he appeared to be uncertain about what to think about his round.
“A lot of it felt wrong, in all honesty,” Schauffele said. “The greens are really soft, so there isn’t a whole lot to be scared of. It was really strange. You would play less break on putts and hit it harder, which is something you never do here.”
Casey, who has had five top-10 completions in 13 past Masters appearances, made a falcon on the second opening with a methodology shot that he expected to wind up over the green.
“I hit a 6-iron to a left-hand pin on No. 2, and you can’t hit that shot in April,” Casey said. “Today, it just pitched and stopped instantly. In April, it would have one-hopped over into the patrons. I probably make five, not three.”
Yet, with regards to engaging, unexpected minutes in this initially round of the Masters, it would hard to beat seeing seven golf players, caddies and authorities chest high in the azaleas looking for Bryson DeChambeau’s unruly ball.
Subsequent to beginning his round on the tenth opening, DeChambeau thumped his tee shot on No. 13 into the trees and went after for a fragile recuperation. All things being equal, he seriously snared his ball and it wound up covered in the hedges behind the green. At that point, on the off chance that he didn’t find that ball, DeChambeau hit a temporary shot that arrived in Rae’s Creek, shy of the green.
“I was really worried about finding that ball,” said DeChambeau, who entered the round as the tournament favorite. “I would have made a bad number if I didn’t find it.”
In the wake of finding the ball, he announced it unplayable and needed to drop on a precarious incline. He at that point flubbed an unpredictable chip and wound up making twofold intruder. DeChambeau mounted a noteworthy convention to complete his round at two under standard and remain in the title pursue. Be that as it may, his flourishing drives, which were relied upon to overwhelm Augusta National, wound up being a factor on a couple of openings. Additionally, he didn’t utilize the 48-inch driver — the longest permitted — that he had been exploring different avenues regarding.
“My driving wasn’t great,” DeChambeau said. “You know, this place can bite back if you make mistakes. But I’m very happy with the patience I showed today.”