So everyone got home safe and sound, just before the sun went down. Probably about two minutes to spare. Here’s how the top of the leader board looks after the first round, then. Thanks for reading. See you again tomorrow afternoon!
-5: Im
-4: Smith
-3: Willett, Niemann, Scheffler, D Johnson
-2: Kokrak, Conners, Cantlay
-1: Higgs, Na, Berger, Woods, Finau, Simpson, Varner III, Zalatoris, Fitzpatrick
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Brooks Koepka’s third suffers exactly the same fate as Spieth’s did a few minutes before. He lands it by the cup, only for the spin to bring it miles back down the green. Two putts restricts the damage to bogey, but that’s a three-over 75. Rory McIlroy gets up and down from greenside sand for a par; a one-over 73 isn’t ideal, but at least he’s not played himself totally out of contention in round one, as he has so often in the majors of late. Not that his game looks totally up to it. Best of all, Matt Fitzpatrick rolls in his birdie putt from 20 feet behind the flag. A closing birdie and a one-under 71.
It looks as though everyone is going to get home before sundown. Just. Brooks Koepka (+2) certainly won’t be sorry to see the end of this round, as his game has all but fallen apart on the back nine. He slices into the trees down the right and can only hack out. Rory McIlroy (+1), from position A in the centre of the fairway, pushes his second into greenside sand on the right. Matt Fitzpatrick (E) is quietly putting together the best round of this final match, and he finds the green in equally fuss-free regulation.
Nope, it’s unlikely to be Spieth’s year. Nothing’s quite clicking. At 18, he sends a hook deep into the trees on the left, and can only hack out. His third lands almost next to the cup, but bites hard and spins back down the green, ending 50 feet away from the flag. He rolls his rock up to three feet, but that’s another bogey and the 2015 champ is signing for a 74. Having said all that, if anyone is likely to go off to the putting green and pull a brand new mechanism out of thin air, going on to make everything tomorrow, it’s Spieth. We’ve seen stranger things. A 74 for Xander Schauffele too, while Viktor Hovland, bedecked in bright pink breeks, can’t end the day in the red: his birdie putt stops inches short, and he settles for par and a level-par 72.
Right! Can the final two matches get round before the sun drops out of the sky? It’s going to be nip and tuck. On 17, it’s par for Rory McIlroy, who remains at +1, but another back-nine bogey for Brooks Koepka, who hit the turn in 34 and is currently on course to come back in 40. He’s +2.
An opening two-over 74 for the pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm. Not great, but at least it’s two shots better than the pre-tournament second favourite Justin Thomas, who carded a very disappointing four-over 76 today. Meanwhile Will Zalatoris, who shot all four rounds under par last year en route to second spot, makes it five out of five with a 71 ... but only just, raking in a bogey putt from the fringe at the back of 18 after duffing a chip. He’s -1.
Patrick Cantlay shoves his second at 18 into the sand on the right, but plays an exquisite splash out to 12 inches. He taps in for a par, and that’s a fine 70.
... and here’s Ewan on Cameron Smith’s wonderful, if slightly eccentric, 68.
More on Tiger, from our man Ewan Murray.
The 2020 champ Dustin Johnson cards 69
Par for Dustin Johnson at the last. It’s no mean feat, either, having pulled his second deep into the gallery on the left. He pitches down from the bank to kick-in distance, a delicate touch that ensures he signs for a 69. Par and a one-over 73 for the Open champion Collin Morikawa.
-5: Im (F)
-4: Smith (F)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), D Johnson (F)
Jordan Spieth hits a glorious tee shot at 16 to four feet ... then pulls the birdie putt. He’ll not be winning this year’s Masters while so erratic on the greens. He remains at +1. See also: Rory McIlroy, who suffers his second three putt in three holes, this time at 16, and he’s down to +1 as well.
Dustin Johnson’s second into 17 topples off the back of the green. Only just, but he then severely underhits his putt from the fringe, and it stops six feet short. The ticklish downhill putt that remains is always heading right. Not hit convincingly at all, and that’s the big man’s first bogey of the day.
-5: Im (F)
-4: Smith (F)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), Scheffler (F), D Johnson (17)
-2: Kokrak (F), Conners (F), Zalatoris (16), Cantlay (16)
A level-par 72 for Sergio Garcia today. Just sayin’.
The reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay is mounting a late charge. Three birdies in four holes - at 13, 15 and now 16 - have whistled him up the standings to -2, just three off Im’s lead. Cantlay was one of the players who took the lead during that breathless denouement to the 2019 Masters, only to give it up pretty much the moment he had it. He’s more battle-hardened now, and surely won’t be too far away again come Sunday.
The pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm finds greenside sand at 16, and can’t get up and down to save his par. The splash out was fine; the short putt, tentatively hit and always turning away at the last, was not. He’s +2 again. Moving the other way, Jordan Spieth, who only just cleared the water with his second at 15, a hybrid possibly pushing his luck. He gets up and down to rise back to +1.
McIlroy, having pushed his tee shot at 14 into the trees down the right, finds the dancefloor with his second anyway. Much good it does him. An agricultural three putt drops him back to level par. His tee shot at 15 doesn’t look ideal either, sent down the left. He may be forced into laying up from there.
A five-under 67 for Sungjae Im!
Sungjae Im sends his second at 18 into the sand on the right. He’s left with a tricky up and down, and doesn’t catch his bunker shot too cleanly, but the ball, travelling at some speed, hits the flag, nearly drops, and stops inches from the hole. He taps in for a wonderful 67 ... and as things stand he’s still in the lead on his own, because Dustin Johnson races his birdie putt on 16 past the hole. He remains one off.
-5: Im (F)
-4: Smith (F), D Johnson (16)
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It’s going to be a bit of a race against time to get this first round completed. There’s roughly an hour of daylight left. Everyone should make it ... but professional golfers are gonna play professional golf.
DJ smoothly whips his tee shot at 16 pin high to 12 feet. He’ll have an uphill look at birdie and a share of the lead. Back on 15, the chance of a bounceback birdie for Will Zalatoris slides by. He remains at -2.
A correction regarding Lee Westwood. Turns out he didn’t find his tee shot in a small clearing in the trees, allowing him to thrash out towards the front of the green. In fact, he’d found his ball under a bush, and could only punch forward to that less obnoxious position. So he finished with a bogey rather than par, and signed for a level-par 72.
Bogey for Will Zalatoris on 14, the result of finding trees down the right with his drive. Any old excuse to update the old leader board.
-5: Im (17)
-4: Smith (F), D Johnson (15)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), Scheffler (F)
-2: Kokrak (F), Conners (F), Zalatoris (14)
Brooks Koepka is going the other way, though. He dumps his second carelessly into the creek, then doesn’t get anywhere near to the flag with a heavy handed wedge. Two putts and that’s three bogeys in a row. The four-time major champ is +1. Par for his partner Rory McIlroy, meanwhile; he remains at -1. Birdie for Collin Morikawa up on 15, and he’s back to level par. And it’s an easy two-putt par on 17 for Sungjae Im, who is closing in on a 67.
Harold Varner III’s hot streak continues! His tee shot at 16 isn’t particularly great, pulled well left of the flag. He’s left with a 30-foot uphill rake for birdie ... but in it goes, never looking like it was going to miss! That’s four shots picked up in four holes, and all of a sudden he’s in the top ten! He’s -1.
Jon Rahm, having found Rae’s Creek with his drive on 13, dropping back to +2, repairs the damage with a glorious iron from 134 yards to four feet on 14. From the centre of the fairway, he landed it pin high, using the slope of the green to swing the ball left and towards the cup. He makes no mistake with the putt and is back to +1.
Im leaves his birdie putt on 16 well short. But the 24-year-old South Korean holds his nerve to roll in the saver. He remains one in the lead at -5 ... then smashes his drive at 17 straight down the middle.
Lee Westwood escapes 18 with a par, having sliced deep into the trees down the right. With a gap to work with, he sent his second over the trees skirting the side of 10, and landed his ball short of the green, the best he could do from where he was. He then screeched a wedge to kick-in distance, and he signs for a one-under 71. His dream of becoming the oldest Masters champion of all time yet to be extinguished. Meanwhile on 13, Jordan Spieth, who has been struggling today, finds Rae’s Creek with his second, but like Morikawa before him, gets up and down to salvage par. He’s +2, but he’s not playing with too much confidence, and a sixth top-ten finish in nine starts looks unlikely right now.
Birdie putts for DJ and Morikawa on 14. Johnson’s is always staying up on the high side; Morikawa’s is always dying off to the left. A shame after a couple of lovely second shots, Morikawa’s in particular a work of art from the trees on the right: unable to get too much spin on the ball, he used the tilt at the back of the green to bring it back towards the hole. A successful exercise in distance control.
Im had to wait more than ten minutes on the 16th tee. That’s knocked him out of his rhythm a bit, though everything in context: he finds the heart of the green, but will face a long putt for his birdie.
A three-putt bogey for Brooks Koepka on 11. He slips back to -1. Meanwhile up on 13, Dustin Johnson (-4) and Collin Morikawa (+1) take turns to get out of Dodge with pars, the former having clumsily bundled his third over the back, the latter having found Rae’s Creek from the centre of the fairway. And finally - and most importantly - Sunjae Im lays up at 15, then wedges to 15 feet before converting for a birdie that gives him sole ownership of the lead! The 2020 joint runner-up is coming on strong!
-5: Im (15)
-4: Smith (F), D Johnson (13)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), Scheffler (F), Zalatoris (12)
Perhaps, finally, something is happening for Rory McIlroy! Having saved par with a 20-footer on 10, he makes birdie with a 30-footer on 11. The patrons roar their approval. He moves into red figures again. Meanwhile up on 18, a disappointing final bogey for Bob MacIntyre, who shoves his second into the sand on the right from the middle of the fairway, and can’t get up and down. A one-over 73.
Harold Varner III sends a lovely second into 14, using the camber to the left of the green to gather his ball towards the cup. He’s left with a ten-footer for birdie, and he’s not missing it. In short order, he’s hauled himself back to level par! Meanwhile on 12, Viktor Hovland, coming off the back of a pond-drenched double bogey at 11, nearly aces 12. His tee shot pitches a couple of feet past the hole but stubbornly refuses to spin back more than 12 inches. So close to the first hole in one on 12 since Curtis Strange aced in 1988! He’s level par as well.
Last year’s runner-up Will Zalatoris sends his tee shot into the heart of 12. He’s got a putt for a share of the lead ... but leaves it a couple of feet short, then nearly misses the par tiddler, his stroke not exactly the smoothest work of art. Nevertheless, he remains at -3. Meanwhile it’s back to back birdies for Lee Westwood, the latest at 16, and the two-time runner-up moves into red figures at -1.
Andy Bull is at Augusta. Here’s his take on Tiger!
Harold Varner III is this close to making albatross from the pine straw to the right of 13. For a second, it looks as though he’s whipping his iron into the hole from 227 yards, but the ball stops a couple of feet from the cup. Just an eagle. Just an eagle! For the record, only one player has ever made albatross on 13 at the Masters: Jeff Maggert in 1994. The 31-year-old North Carolinian, something of a late bloomer who tied for sixth at the Players, is making his first appearance here. That would have been some way to introduce himself. He’s +1.
From the 12th tee box, the out-of-position Rahm, nominally playing 11, wedges wonderfully to six feet. But he then misses the short par putt. A four-letter word pings around this famous part of the course. It’s not “amen”. That’s a clumsy bogey, though not much more than his on-safari second shot deserved. The pre-tourney favourite slips to +1.
Rory McIlroy has missed some short ones today ... but on 10 he rattles in a 20-footer, having done well to get that close from the bunker high on the right. That’s a par that will feel like a birdie, and he remains at level par. Meanwhile on 11, Will Zalatoris rolls in a long one for a rare birdie on a very difficult hole, while up on 12, Collin Morikawa, having done very little so far, makes a birdie that hauls him back to +1. Time for the reigning Open champion to get forensic with his irons on the two upcoming par fives.
Eagle for Sungjae Im on the par-five 13th! What a response to those back-to-back bogeys at 10 and 11! He draws a stunning hybrid around the corner from 220 yards to 15 feet, then guides in the right-to-left trickler, and he’s got a share of the lead again! Meanwhile on 11, Jon Rahm (level par) sends a wild second so far right it nearly hits the group ahead on the 12th tee! That’s either a mud ball, or he’s decided that knocking Dustin Johnson spark out would vastly improve his chances of winning.
-4: Smith (F), Im (13), D Johnson (11)
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The 2019 low amateur Viktor Hovland tied for 21st as a pro last year. The 24-year-old Norwegian announces his intention to do something even better this time round, cracking his second into 10 to eight feet from the best part of 200 yards. Folk have been missing this green left and right, short and long, so that’s not nothing. In goes the birdie putt, and he’s into red figures.
Yep, that birdie at 8 looks to have lit a fire under Koepka. He knocks his approach at 9 from 122 yards to four feet, and that’s back to back birdies. All of a sudden he’s two off the lead at -2. He’s going round with Rory, who has missed a fair few makeable putts on the front nine, and hits the turn in a slightly dispiriting, but hardly fatal, 36 strokes. Also turning in level par: the pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm, whose birdie at 9 repaired the damage of bogey at 6. With the possible exception of Dustin Johnson, none of the later starters are currently threatening to run amok. Give it time, though.
The defending champion Hideki Matsuyama went round in 72. Not ideal, but birdies at 13 and 15 have made a poor round respectable, and his dream of becoming the first man to retain the Masters since Tiger in 2002 remains a live prospect. Meanwhile speaking of the champion set, this hasn’t really been Sandy Lyle’s day, the 1988 winner over the back of 18 in two, +11 for his round. But the cream always rises eventually, and he bumps a left-to-right chip into the cup from 40 feet! A birdie to finish, he’ll sign for 82 ... and he’ll always have that bunker shot.
Brooks Koepka has come close a couple of times, most notably finishing one shot behind Tiger in 2019. Injuries haven’t been his friend in the interim, and he’s come into this week slightly under the radar for a four-time major champion. He started out with seven straight pars, but having blootered his second at the par-five 8th through the green, then chipped back up to three feet, he’s made it into red figures for the first time today. This is exactly where Scottie Scheffler’s round took off; Koepka would sign on the dotted line to follow further in his footsteps right now.
World No1 Scottie Scheffler cards 69
Dustin Johnson continues to move on up! His second at 10 stops on the fringe at the front. Out comes the putter. He steers in a right-to-left swinger from 18 feet and that’s a third birdie in four holes ... the only failure to make par during that short run coming at the relatively easy par-five 8th, which you’d expect the big man to birdie more often than not. Meanwhile up on 18, Scottie Scheffler becomes the latest of the leading bunch to come a cropper at 18, sending his second into Greg Norman Country and failing to get up and down from Patronsville. Another bogey for Im, too, at 11, and it’s all change at the top!
-4: Smith (F), D Johnson (10)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), Scheffler (F)
-2: Kokrak(F), Conners (13), Im (11), Zalatoris (9)
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Tiger talks to Sky Sports. “I’m proud of my whole team, we worked so hard. People have no idea how hard we worked each and every day. Once I got out of the bed after those three months, there have been no days off. That led me to this opportunity, and here we are. I’m only three back. We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s nice to get off to a positive start. Lots of treatment, lots of hopping in ice baths. Shivering and suffering! It’s awful, but it allows me to recover!”
A second birdie in three holes for Dustin Johnson, who has been rediscovering form of late. He swishes his approach into 9 pin high to six feet, and makes no mistake with the gentle right-to-left slider. All of a sudden, the 2020 champion is one off the lead and looking extremely dangerous. Given the reduced circumstances in which he won his green jacket two Novembers ago, few would begrudge him a repeat success, only this time with the sun beating down and patrons cheering him on. He’s -3.
It took the new world number one Scottie Scheffler a while to get going today. He started with seven pars on the bounce. But he’s quietly gone about his business since making his first birdie of the day at 8. Another at 9, a long rake for a third at 12, and now he’s made his fourth of the round with a textbook trip down 17, splitting the fairway with his drive, knocking his second pin high, and rolling a 15-footer into the cup. He joins Cam Smith in the lead at -4, and there’s not a blemish on his card with just one hole to play.
-4: Smith (F), Scheffler (17)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (F), Im (10)
-2: Kokrak (F), D Johnson (8), Zalatoris (8)
A one-under 71 for Tiger!
Tiger rolls in a confident par saver, and that is a statement round of 71 for the almost super-human five-time champion! Did we really think we’d see this again after that harrowing car crash last year? But here we are. He’s just three off the lead ... and two behind his playing partner Joaquin Niemann, who makes his own par and signs for a 69. Meanwhile a bogey for Im on 10, the result of only just making it onto the front of the green with his second, the ball rolling back off down the fairway. He slips out of the lead and into a share of -3.
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A clumsy three-putt bogey for McIlroy on 6. He’s back to level par. Meanwhile back on 18, a break for Tiger, who got a friendly deflection off the branches and a free drop from his position wide left of the fairway. He’s able to force his second short right of the green. An up and down here would mean the world ... and an under par round. He whips a top-drawer wedge up the steep slope, over the bunker and onto the green from 70 yards to six feet. A chance to escape. As he walks up onto the green, he receives the sort of ovation some players would be lucky to get if they were about to win the whole thing. That’s real love.
Cam Smith doubles 18 but still shoots 68
Smith absolutely skelps his long par putt up the 18th green. It trundles a good ten feet past. He can’t get the one coming back, and that’s one of the stranger rounds you’ll see in a while. Double bogey at 1, double bogey at 18, and a run of eight birdies in 12 holes in between. A disappointing end all right, but he’d have taken a 68 at the start of play. A four-over 76 for his partner Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, and that “par 67” around here remains elusive for one of golf’s more ambitious souls.
-4: Smith (F), Im (9)
-3: Willett (F), Niemann (17), Scheffler (16)
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Cam Smith looks likely to bookend his otherwise sensational round with misery. Having doubled 1, he’s in danger of repeating the trick on 18. He pushes his drive under the branches on the right, and clips them when he fires out. His third lands well short of the flag and spins back to the front of the green; he’ll have a tricky two putts for bogey. Meanwhile back down the hole, Tiger pulls his drive into trouble down the left. The wind is picking up, and it won’t be helping, I’ll be bound.
Daniel Berger nearly scrambles a five. He chips up from the swale at the back of 18, landing delicately onto the fringe, the ball toppling down to four feet. But he doesn’t commit to his bogey putt, and that’s an awful way to end an otherwise excellent round. A double-bogey six, and all of a sudden that’s a much less sexy 71. He’s a lot happier than his playing partner Tommy Fleetwood, mind, who is signing for a three-over 75. It all came apart going into Amen Corner, as he pulled his second at 11 into the pond, a triple-bogey seven the ugly result. Not a great 24 hours for the staunch Evertonian, all told.
The 2020 champion Dustin Johnson has been going along relatively quietly ... until now, when he rolls one in from 25 feet on 7. A second birdie of the day, and he rises to -2. Meanwhile Daniel Berger, who required a couple of up and downs at 16 and 17 to scramble pars, may be running out of road down the last. After slicing wildly into the trees on the 18th, then chipping out sideways in the medicine-taking style, he blades his third over the back and into the gallery. He’ll need a third top-class up and down in a row if he’s to limit the damage to bogey.
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Cam Smith knocks another approach close, this time at 17. But for once the birdie putt doesn’t drop, always staying on the high side. He taps in for a par that keeps him at -6. Some more missed putts: Will Zalatoris, having fired his tee shot at 6 straight at the flag, pulls a short uphill one, while Jordan Spieth, arrowing his second at the tightly positioned 5th to six feet, doesn’t commit again. They stay at -1 and level par respectively.
Tiger needs something to happen after the dropped stroke at 14 and a tree-visiting par on 15. It happens! His tee shot at 16 isn’t all that, and he’s left himself a huge right-to-left swinger from 30 feet. In it goes, and he’s back into red figures at -1. Meanwhile on 17, it’s a second staunch up-and-down in a row by Daniel Berger, who leaves his bump up from the back of the green eight feet short, but rolls the putt in nervously. This round could easily have gotten away from Berger in the last 20 minutes or so; instead he’s hanging on in there, just three off the lead at -3.
McIlroy had a birdie putt at 3 but left it short. He’s now got another at 4 ... and this one’s underhit as well, always dying off to the left. He nevertheless remains in good nick at -1. Meanwhile Im can only par the relatively easy par-five 8th, giving up a little ground to the field. He stays put at -4.
The 2016 champ Danny Willett in with 69
Par for Danny Willett on 18, and he opens with a 69. That’s a fine effort - doubly so given his travails here since winning in 2016, missing five cuts in six appearances - and it puts him in the clubhouse lead.
-6: Smith (16)
-4: Im (7)
-3: Willett (F), Berger (16), Niemann (15), Scheffler (13)
-2: Kokrak (F), Schwartzel (10)
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Cam Smith sends his tee shot at the 170-yard 16th to five feet. This is outrageous. In goes the putt, and that’s his eighth birdie of the day, and his fourth in the last five holes. Eight birdies in 12 holes! Meanwhile on 4, a fairly frustrating bogey for Jordan Spieth. He pulls his tee shot at the par three miles left, and is faced with an almost impossible chip from 30 yards, up on a knoll. He lands his ball into the centre of the green, spinning it hard right, to five feet. It should be a sensational escape, right up there with Berger’s nonsense on 16, but he nervously shoves the short putt wide right. Back to level par. Spieth’s putter hasn’t been behaving of late. He’ll need to sort that out quicksmart.
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Cam Smith arrows his third at 15 to ten feet and rolls in his seventh birdie putt in 14 holes. What a round he’s having. What a round he’d be having had he not doubled the opening hole! He’s still only one shot in the lead, though, because Sungjae Im, who tied with the Australian for second spot here two Novembers ago, has just followed up his birdie-birdie-birdie start with another at 7. This course clearly suits both of these young players’ eye. Could this turn into a tussle for the ages? Meanwhile a sensational up and down by Berger, up a bank behind 16 and faced with a treacherous downhill chip and not much green to play with. He chips sideways, allowing the first cut to snag the ball, slow it up, and send it slowly trundling to par-salvaging distance. After a slow start to the round, a few players are really cooking now.
-5: Smith (15)
-4: Im (7)
-3: Willett (17), Berger (16), Niemann (14), Scheffler (13)
Guido Migliozzi led this tournament earlier in the day. A poor finish by the young Italian - bogeys at 13, 14 and 18 - has ruined all of his good work. A three-over 75. It’s a similar story for the two-time Open champ Padraig Harrington: an early share of the lead, a clumsy stumble home. Bogeys at 12, 16 and 17 mean he’s signing for a two-over 74.
The 2015 champion Jordan Spieth, who nearly always contests for this championship, has also started well. Birdie at 2 has him at -1. Some big names also on -1 early in their round: Webb Simpson (6), Dustin Johnson (4), Will Zalatoris (3), Viktor Hovland (2) and Matt Fitzpatrick (2). But dropping back to level par: Tiger Woods, whose bump up from the back of 14 isn’t all that, and the six-footer he leaves himself is never dropping.
A nice solid start for Rory McIlroy. Par at the opening hole, followed by a fine birdie at 2, the result of a delicate chip from the back of the green. He’s developed a habit of making awful cold starts at the majors in recent years, so this is somewhat refreshing. Early doors, though, so let’s not get carried away yet. He’s -1.
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An eagle putt on 13 stops just short for Tiger. He taps in for a birdie that moves him to -1. Then he flays his tee shot at 14 into the woods, but whistles an escape over the back of the green. He’s not too far from the flag, so par should be more than gettable from there. Meanwhile erstwhile leader Harry Higgs signs for a 71 and is the early clubhouse leader.
Thanks Bryan. OK, it’s three birdies in a row for Daniel Berger, at 12, 13 and 14, and two birdies in three for 2016 champ Danny Willett, at 13 and 15, the latter another long-range right-to-left steer, like the 9th all over again. Throw in a birdie for Joaquin Niemann at 13, one for Scottie Scheffler at 12, and another for Cam Smith at 14, and there’s a whole new look to this leader board.
-4: Smith (14)
-3: Willett (16), Berger (14), Niemann (13), Scheffler (12), Im (6)
-2: Kokrak (16), Champ (10), Schwartzel (9)
Scheffler follows up a par save on the 10th hole with an even more impressive escape job on 11. The world number one follows a horrific second shot with a gorgeous up and down from 47 yards and a 10ft putt for one helluva four, keeping him within a shot of the pace at -2.
... and with that, it’s back to the inestimable Scott Murray.
Woods saves par on the 11th thanks to a nifty bump-and-run putt with a six-iron that crawls within 5ft of the pin. A positively rammed gallery awaits on 12 and his reception is, as the kids say, a whole mood.
All rise at Amen Corner. #themasters pic.twitter.com/pk4R5ATi0S
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2022
That came moments after the Aussie Cameron Smith made birdie on 12 to join Im atop the leaderboard at -3 ... only 17 months after the pair tied for second in the 2020 tournament.
There’s a new name on top of the leaderboard as Im Sung-jae opens his round with three consecutive birdies. He’s the first to go birdie-birdie-birdie to open an April Masters since Webb Simpson in 2014, although Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas all turned the trick in November 2020. Elsewhere, Danny Willett birdies 13 to move within one of the lead.
-3: Im (4)
-2: Willett (14), Smith (11), Niemann (11), Scheffler (9), Schwartzel (7), Ancer (2)
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Woods, Niemann and Oosthuizen are making their way to Amen Corner after hitting their tee shots into the 11th fairway. Meanwhile, newly minted world number one Scottie Scheffler drains a 12ft putt on 9 for his second birdie in as many holes to move into a seven-way share of the lead at -2.
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... and with that, I’ll hand you over to Bryan Armen Graham. Back in a bit!
Travails for Woods, Niemann and Oosthuizen at 10. Tiger falls off the front of the green again. Niemann pushes into sand on the right. Oosthuizen goes long and left. All three hit their third shots to saveable distance, but only Tiger can salvage par. Niemann drops back into a share as a result.
-2: Smith (10), Niemann (10), Schwartzel (5), Westwood (4)
-1: Harman (14), Higgs (14), Willett (12), Berger (10), Scheffler (8), MacIntyre (5), Kanaya (4), Conners (4), Reed (3), Herbert (3), Nakajima -a- (3), Im (3)
Tiger, having toppled back off the false front at 9, then witnessed his playing partner Niemann hole out from 105 yards, hits a heavy handed chip 12 feet past the flag. He does extremely well to tickle in a downhill par saver to remain at level par, three off Niemann’s lead. The defending champion Matsuyama cancels out that bogey at 3 with birdie on 8; he’s back to level par. And a birdie at 2 for the 2018 champ Patrick Reed, who joins a pretty big group bunched at -1.
Lee Westwood is 48 years old now, so history is not on his side. While Phil Mickelson won the PGA last year at nearly 51 years of age, the oldest winner at Augusta is Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he did this ...
... but that’s not going to stop Westwood, a two-time runner-up here, having another go. He’s come out all guns blazing, with birdies at 2 and 3, and as you can see he’s part of the group at -2 (that no longer features Kanaya, who has bogeyed 4). Meanwhile a first birdie of the day for the world number one Scottie Scheffler, who nearly raked in a long eagle putt at 8 and moves to -1.
Some top-quality effing and jeffing from Tiger on 9. He hooks into the trees down the left, but goes for the green anyway. He sends a low draw under the branches and onto the front of the green. However it’s always going to topple back off the false front and miles back down the fairway. “Aw fuckin’ hell!” Meanwhile compare and contrast: his partner Joaquin Niemann, from the centre of the fairway, wedges 20 feet over the flag, the spin pulling the ball back serenely into the cup. One of those that was always going in, en route from the moment it landed, bit and turned back. A hole out for eagle, and he jumps into the lead!
-3: Niemann (9)
-2: Smith (9), Schwartzel (4), Kanaya (3), Westwood (3)
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The 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel joins Kanaya in the lead at -2. Having already birdied 2, he draws gently into the par-three 4th and rolls the short birdie putt into the cup. And what’s this? The super-hot Cam Smith sticks his second at 9 pin high, leaving as straight a putt as you’re going to get on this famously treacherous green. In it goes from five feet - four birdies in five holes! - and we have a three-way tie for the lead!
-2: Smith (9), Schwartzel (4), Kanaya (3)
-1: Harman (13), Willett (10), Niemann (8), Champ (5), MacIntyre (4), Westwood (2)
Tiger makes an awful horlicks of the par-five 8th. Statistically, it’s the easiest hole on the course, averaging 4.5789, having already given up 18 birdies today. Just the two bogeys ... until now. Tiger, from the centre of the fairway, sends a dismal second miles right of the green, fails to reach with his chip, then takes another three to get down. It’s a dreadful bogey and he is fuming. Back to level par he goes. A few minutes earlier, the Cam Smith resurgence continued apace, as he made his third birdie in four holes at 8, and rises to -1.
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Takumi Kanaya has played at Augusta once before, as a 20-year-old amateur in 2019. He made the cut that year, finishing tied for 58th, and now having turned pro and scraped into the top 50 in the world (he’s 49th) a second invitation to the Masters has been extended. The young Japanese prospect has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, flying out of the traps and making birdie at 1 and 2 ... and so, with Talor Gooch whiffing a chip from the side of 10, running up a double bogey to drop back to level par, the 23-year-old from Hiroshima is the new leader of the Masters! We waited 85 years for the first Japanese winner. Two in successive years? Why not? You know the rule about London buses.
-2: Kanaya (2)
-1: Willett (10), Smith (8), Woods (7), Niemann (7), Champ (5), Schwartzel (3), MacIntyre (3), Rose (2), Westwood (2)
This time last year, Justin Rose opened with a 65. Having established a four-stroke first-round lead, the only way was down, and he finished the rest of the week with a pair of 72s and a 74. Throw in a late collapse in 2007, plus his famous but ultimately unsuccessful tussle with Sergio Garcia ten years later, and he’s got history here. Nobody has seriously mentioned the 41-year-old Englishman as a contender this week, but while he hasn’t got the form, he does have the knowledge, and he’s just steered in a tricky downhill right-to-left curler on 2 for a birdie that takes him to -1.
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Bob MacIntyre finished in a tie for 12th here last year. While he’s not been in the best form since, the 25-year-old from Oban remains the best chance Scotland has had to win a major since Colin Montgomerie was sat in the middle of the 72nd fairway at Winged Foot in 2006. Oh Colin! Anyway, birdie at 2 puts him into the big group in second spot ... alongside Harry Higgs, who has just shipped a shot at 11, falling victim to the super-enhanced swale to the right of the green. Talor Gooch - on debut at the age of 30 - is now out on his own.
-2: Gooch (9)
-1: Higgs (11), Willett (9), Berger (8), Woods (7), Niemann (7), Champ (3), Schwartzel (2), MacIntyre (2), Kanaya (1)
Tiger loses his balance while driving at 7, sending his ball whistling into the trees down the right. He manufactures a slice back out, his ball stopping just short of the bunker guarding the front of the green. He screeches his chip to kick-in distance, and that’s an outrageous par save. He remains at -1 ... where he’s joined by the 2016 surprise package Danny Willett! The 34-year-old Yorkshireman follows up birdie at 8 with another on 9, slinging a big right-to-left downhill putt into the cup from 90 feet! That’s a stunner, and he hits the turn in 35!
The first player to top the leader board at the 2022 Masters, the 1994 and 1999 champion Jose Maria Olazabal, ends the day with a 77. Ollie made the cut for the first time in seven years last April, but he’ll not be making it to the weekend this time round. He went round this morning with JJ Spaun, who only secured his invitation last week with his win at the Texas Open. After an emotional week, it looked as though the 31-year-old Californian was running on fumes after that long-awaited maiden PGA Tour victory - it was his 147th start - as he doubled 3 and bogeyed 4. But he steadied the ship impressively. Pars all the way home, with the exception of birdie at 13, and he’s round in 74. Not bad for a debut spin around Augusta.
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“I’ve seen the media in all its tawdry finery today, a competition between a lot of players reduced to a one-man snorefest. OK I like to know how Woods is doing, but TV and blogs are only in it for one man. I’ll come back when his round is over.” Roger Kirkby there, impressively typing and furiously wagging his finger at the same time, a motor-skills discipline that comes with a difficulty tariff of 5.3. Anyway, Tiger keeps on trucking, launching his tee shot at 6 straight at the flag, his second heat-seeking approach in a row. He’s not to be denied this time. He knocks in the two-footer he leaves himself, and moves into red figures for the first time this week. Tiger! Oosthuizen rakes in a long putt meanwhile to repair some of the damage of the previous hole. He’s +1. And it’s a birdie for Talor Gooch at 8. Suddenly the leader board has an all-new look to it. Shame Roger isn’t here to enjoy it.
-2: Higgs (10), Gooch (8)
-1: Woods (6), Niemann (6), Scott (4), Champ (2)
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Tiger whips his second at 5 from 220 yards to 15 feet. A glorious approach. He looks to have nailed the birdie putt, as well, and walks after it with the express intention of celebrating. Somehow, just as the ball hits the lip, it rolls around the edge of the cup and stays out on the left. That is preposterous, and surely not in keeping with the laws of gravity. Can we get a ruling? Nope. He taps in for his fifth par in a row. A double for Louis Oosthuizen, however, punishment for going over the back of the green and failing to give enough to his chip.
The in-form Cam Smith came into this Tournament as one of the hot favourites. The new Players champion was runner-up here in 2020, and has another couple of top-ten finishes on his CV, but he didn’t start well today. His opening tee shot found a deep-faced fairway bunker, forcing him to chip out, then his approach went over the back. A double to begin, then just a par on the par-five 2nd, having found more sand from the tee. (Butch Harmon wondered on Sky whether the big stick would prove his undoing this week.) He’s repaired the damage however by chipping in from the side of 5, then nearly slam-dunking his tee shot at 6 straight into the cup! A tap-in for back-to-back birdies, and he’s level par again.
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A slow start by the defending champion Hideki Matsuyama. He sends his tee shot at 3 into the trees down the right, and is always out of position as a result. A bogey, and he’s +1 alongside some other former champs: Mike Weir (13), Zach Johnson (8), Danny Willett (6) and SANDY LYLE (1). On the subject of 1988 hero Alexander Walter Barr Lyle, Euan Hendrie (see Sandy entries passim) has sent me a screenshot from a betting site offering odds for Top Scot. Robert Macintyre is 1-100, while Lyle has been priced at a much more generous 11-1. “An outrage,” splutters Euan, tongue only partially in cheek. Time waits for no man, I guess.
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Tiger and Oosthuizen continue to par their way around Augusta. Niemann however makes it back-to-back birdies, arrowing his tee shot straight at the flag, leaving a ten-foot gentle right-to-left slider. In it goes, and he joins the group in second at -1, as does 2013 winner Adam Scott, who makes a fine up and down from the side of 2, rolling up with a fairway wood, and Tony Finau, who nearly drains an eagle putt on the same hole but makes do with a kick-in birdie.
-2: Higgs (8)
-1: MW Lee (9), Harman (8), Gooch (6), Berger (5), Niemann (4), Scott (2), Finau (2)
It’s been a fairly steady ... borderline uneventful ... start to this Masters. The course playing long in the wet conditions, the wind, some tricky pins, and folk not wanting to play themselves out of contention early doors are all factors. It might not get much easier until the weekend, when the wind finally drops, the course dries out, and the committee place the flagsticks in a few more favourable conditions.
Another fairly uneventful par for Tiger, this time on 3. It’s also a par-par-par start for Oosthuizen, but a birdie for the third man in the group, Niemann, who cancels out his opening bogey to return to level par. Up on 12, Harrington can’t get up and down from the bunker at the front of the famous par-three, and slips back to level par, but on the par-five 8th, Higgs knocks a wedge to three feet and tidies up for a birdie that gives him sole ownership of the lead!
-2: Higgs (8)
-1: MW Lee (8), Harman (8), Gooch (6), Berger (4)
The wind is beginning to pick up at Augusta, as expected. Meanwhile one-man whirlwind Bryson DeChambeau came into this tournament under the radar, out of form and admitting that he’s only firing at about 80 percent of capacity. Birdie at 3 however means he’s joined the leading pack at -1.
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“Golf is sometimes unfair,” says Butch Harmon on Sky. Preach on, brother. Thankfully, Lowry’s stroke of bad luck at 4, finding himself faced with a tricky two putts for par after hitting a near-perfect tee shot, doesn’t cost the 2019 Open champion too much. He cradles his first putt up close, and tidies up to remain at +1. And he’s already made an ace at Augusta, on 16 in 2016, so life could be worse.
Tiger takes a fairway wood off the tee at the par-five 2nd. Playing for position. He sends another just short front and right of the green, giving himself a good angle to attack the flag, tucked near the back left. His chip is overly conservative, though, and he can’t make the 15-foot birdie putt. Still, that’s a par-par start. Oosthuizen pars as well, getting up and down from a tight spot over the back, though there was a slight concern back up the hole when he grabbed the small of his back after hitting his second, and squatted down to rest awhile. Meanwhile the new world number one Scottie Scheffler has opened up with par.
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Shane Lowry nearly aces 4
At the par-three 4th, Shane Lowry (+1) slam-dunks his tee shot straight into the cup ... nearly! Sadly it’s not a hole in one, because the ball rebounds off the base of the flagstick and a good 30 feet from the pin. So unlucky! He throws his iron to the floor in mock indignation, then flashes a wide smile and shares a laugh with his playing partner Kevin Na. That would have been just the second ace at 4 in the entire history of the Tournament, Jeff Sluman the only man to hole out, in 1992.
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Sepp Straka became the first Austrian to win on the PGA Tour when he won the Honda Classic back in February. He’s since chalked up a top-ten finish at the Players, and now on Masters debut he’s traversed the front nine for the very first time in style. Eight pars followed by a 20-foot birdie putt at 9. He hits the turn in 35 and joins a crowded group at -1 that now also includes Brian Harman, Daniel Berger and Tommy Fleetwood. (Harrington, incidentally, remains a member of this not particularly exclusive club with a fine up and down at 10, his second having toppled back off the false front.)
-1: Harrington (10), Straka (9), Harman (6), Higgs (6), Gooch (3), Homa (3), Berger (2), Fleetwood (2)
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The sun comes out at Augusta. Almost as though the golfing gods know it’s lights-camera-action time for Tiger. Turns out his drive at 1 stopped just short of the bunker down the right, but he can still only find the front fringe of the large upward-sloping green. He chips up delicately, his ball making it up over two ridges but only just clinging onto the top level. He’ll have a straight uphill 12-footer for his par. In it goes, no problem. Meanwhile a two-putt par for Oosthuizen and bogey for Niemann, who could only splash out from a deep fairway bunker and paid the price accordingly.
The leading pack fall back into the bunch. Guido Migliozzi doubles 7, having flayed his tee shot into the trees down the right. MW Lee drops a couple on 6, the latest to be fooled by the ridge along the middle of the green, a chip coming back to his feet. And it’s a three-putt bogey for Harry Higgs on 5. Meanwhile birdies for Talor Gooch and Max Homa on 2, plus back-to-back birdies for the 21-year-old amateur Austin Greaser, the runner-up in last year’s US Amateur behind James Piot, at 8 and 9, and it’s a five-way lead at the top.
-1: Harrington (9), Greaser -a- (9), Higgs (5), Gooch (2), Homa (2)
Here comes Tiger!
Amid bedlam at the 1st tee - albeit the sort of bedlam permitted at Augusta National - Tiger Woods makes his major championship comeback. He’s hit some nightmare opening drives at big tournaments through the years - OB, lost balls, the lot, even during his peak years - and this one isn’t the best, sneaking into a bunker down the right. He looks pained, but thankfully only in the spiritual sense. A lot of patrons following this match. They’re lining the fairway five, sometimes ten deep! God speed Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann, going round in Tiger’s attention slipstream.
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Paul Casey’s long search for a maiden major will stretch on to Southern Hills and the PGA Championship next month. The 43-year-old Englishman, who has five top-ten finishes at Augusta on his resumé, plus two top-ten finishes in the majors last year (at the PGA and US Open) has been forced to withdraw with a back complaint.
Migliozzi is joined at the top by the ever-entertaining Harry Higgs. The 30-year-old from Dallas is playing in his first Masters, having finished tied for fourth at Kiawah in last year’s PGA, and is very much part of the Barnes-Daly-Jimenez everyman tradition, as anyone who remembers him getting the old puppies out at the Phoenix Open a couple of months ago will attest. Having opened with bogey, he’s seized the day much as he embraces life, with birdies at 2, 3 and now 4. The young Australian Min Woo Lee, current Scottish Open champion, makes it three with a long birdie rake across 5.
-2: Migliozzi (6), MW Lee (5), Higgs (4)
-1: Harrington (8)
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Guido Migliozzi regains sole ownership of the early lead at -2 by rolling in a 20-footer for birdie at the par-three 6th. He’s going round with Garrick Higgo, who combines the earlier travails of Olazabal (failing to get his long putt over the ridge down the middle of the green, the ball rolling back to his feet) and antics of Harrington (rolling in a monster putt) for an entertaining bogey. He’s +1.
A bit more on those sandwich-softening conditions. The aforementioned poor weather caused the start to be delayed by half an hour this morning, so use your mental arithmetic skills to recalibrate those tee times accordingly. The course will play softer and longer, spin accentuated on the greens, while a swirling wind could pick up as the day progresses. There’s not so much rain forecast for the rest of the week, though, so there’s plenty of time for the greens to dry out and act up in a very different way.
Our man Andy Bull is in Augusta, and here’s his first dispatch from the trenches. “Morning from a slightly damp and dreary Augusta, where the clouds seem to be just beginning to clear and the sky’s getting a little lighter after two days of torrential rain, thunder and lightning (photo below). Just finished one of my favourite Masters traditions, the press conference with the Honorary Starters. Highlights this year included debutant Tom Watson’s exasperation at being asked whether he outdrove Gary Player even though he’s 14 years younger than him, and his trying to keep a poker face when he was asked if he had any advice for Phil Mickelson after his recent scandal (and their infamous bust-up at the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles), plus Player’s opinions on Cameron Smith’s mullet (“whatever a man wants to do, that’s freedom”) and how well dressed Indian women are (“I’m so used to seeing women with damn dresses up their bum and you don’t see anything like that in India”), and his insistence that he holds the record for the most consecutive rounds in which he’s scored lower than his own age, at just over 2000. Jack Nicklaus was in fine form too.”
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Some details on Padraig Harrington’s antics at the par-three 6th. Having shoved an awful tee shot 25 yards right of the green, he then sent a heavy-handed chip 67 feet past the flag. No matter! He tramlined the putt and it dropped to the biggest cheer of the week so far. (Yeah, yeah.) Tell you what, though, if there’s a more outrageous par save this week, we’ll be in for some top-drawer entertainment. Not a bad way to hold onto a share of the lead.
Ah well, you can scrub that. Migliozzi’s tee shot into the par-three 4th only just finds the front of the green. He’s faced with a long two putts for par, and he can’t make them. Back he drops into a share of -1. He’s alongside another debutant, the 22-year-old South African lefty Garrick Higgo. He earned his place here this year with a win at the Palmetto Championship in South Carolina last June, in only his second start on the PGA Tour. He’s since missed the cut at the US Open, the Open and the Players, but that run in the majors has to stop sometime, and birdie at 1 won’t harm his chances. He’s now -1 through 4.
-1: Harrington (6), Higgo (4), Migliozzi (4)
To the top of the nascent leader board! The two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington was the first man to reach the heady heights of -2, with birdies at 3 and 4. But after sending his drive down the left of 5, he was only able to send his second onto the front edge of the green, from where he took three putts to drop back to -1. He’s now a shot behind the 25-year-old Italian Guido Migliozzi, who is playing here for the first time after qualifying thanks to his tie for fourth at last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines. Birdies at 2 and 3, and whatever happens from here on in, and admittedly there’s still a fair bit of golf to be played this year, he can always say he led the Masters.
-2: Migliozzi (3)
-1: Harrington (4), Higgo (4)
The first shot of this year’s Masters was hit by the 1994 and 1999 winner Jose Maria Olazabal. That was quickly followed by this year’s first birdie: Ollie creamed a fairway wood pin high to 15 feet and rolled in the putt. It’s not been going quite so well for the 56-year-old Spaniard since then. Bogeys at 2, 4 and 5, and now a four-putt double-bogey at the par-three 6th, where the pin is high on the right-hand side of the green. Ollie sent his tee shot to the lower left, then couldn’t get over the ridge running down the middle, his long putt rolling all the way back to his feet. He’s +4 through 6.
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There’s only one place to start.
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Preamble
Welcome to our live coverage of the 86th edition of the Masters Tournament. Here’s a snippet from last year’s first-round preamble …
[Tiger’s] awful accident means he won’t be here this year; here’s to the great man rebuilding his health and completing yet another fairytale comeback. A sixth Masters in 2022? Hey, we’re allowed to dream.
Did we really believe what we were writing back then? We can’t have been serious. Was the heart ruling the head? Not sure. But here we are!
We’ll be keeping close tabs on the five-time winner this morning as he attempts a comeback for the ages that would make 2019’s comeback for the ages look like a walk in the park. We make no apologies for doing so. You’ll have to sue us. It’s just the way things have to be.
Other players are available, though! The favourite going into the week is reigning US Open champion Jon Rahm, aiming to become the fourth Spaniard to pull on a jacket in Pantone 342. Justin Thomas, the one and only player in the field that’ll be getting beneficial advice from Tiger, if you believe Rahm, is not far behind in the betting. A second major is long overdue for the 2017 PGA champ.
Cameron Smith and Scottie Scheffler are the hottest properties on the PGA Tour this season. Smith has a sensational record at Augusta – three top-ten finishes in five starts, including a tie for second a couple of Novembers ago. Scheffler has yet to make a mark here, but he is the new world number one, so there’s that. Sam Burns is another man in form, though he’s never played here before, and nobody has won here on debut since the club dropped their insistence on everyone using local caddies. You gotta know where to miss, see, as Bernhard Langer told Bryson DeChambeau the other year.
The 2020 champ Dustin Johnson is coming back into form. Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa could be dangerous if either get their erratic putters going; ditto Viktor Hovland with that wedge of his. Brooks Koepka usually shows in the majors; Jordan Spieth always shows at Augusta. Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Will Zalatoris have all had near misses here, and are good to come again.
And of course there’s the reigning champion Hideki Matsuyama, bidding to become the first player since Tiger in 2002 to successfully defend his title. We could go on for some time – Bryson! Bubba!! Sergio!!! - but what would be the point? There aren’t too many no-hopers in this field. So make yourself a pimento cheese sandwich, pour a long cool glass of iced tea, pine for the legendary Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich (missing this year due to supply-chain issues) and settle down. We’ll get going here at 3pm BST, which translates as 10am in Georgia. Until then, here are the tee times. Peruse and select your winner (times BST, USA unless stated, -a- denotes amateurs) ...
13.00 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), JJ Spaun
13.11 Austin Greaser -a-, Padraig Harrington (Irl), Mike Weir (Can)
13.22 Larry Mize, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Sepp Straka (Aut)
13.33 Fred Couples, Garrick Higgo (Rsa), Guido Migliozzi (Ita)
13.44 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), Ryan Palmer, Vijay Singh (Fij)
13.55 Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Hudson Swafford, Cameron Young
14.06 Stewart Cink, Brian Harman, Harry Higgs
14.17 Aaron Jarvis (Cay) -a-, Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim (Kor)
14.39 Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Luke List, Matthew Wolff
14.50 Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Danny Willett (Eng)
15.01 Max Homa, Shane Lowry (Irl), Kevin Na
15.12 Daniel Berger, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Kevin Kisner
15.23 Paul Casey (Eng), Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith (Aus)
15.34 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Tiger Woods
15.45 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), James Piot -a-, Justin Thomas
15.56 Tony Finau, Scottie Scheffler, Adam Scott (Aus)
16.18 Stewart Hagestad -a-, Sandy Lyle (Sco)
16.29 Cameron Champ, Lucas Glover, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa)
16.40 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Cameron Davis (Aus), Bernhard Langer (Ger)
16.51 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Laird Shepherd (Eng) -a-
17.02 Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Justin Rose (Eng), Gary Woodland
17.13 Corey Conners (Can), Russell Henley, Lee Westwood (Eng)
17.24 Lucas Herbert (Aus), Seamus Power (Irl), Patrick Reed
17.35 Tom Hoge, Keita Nakajima (Jpn) -a-, Bubba Watson
17.57 Sung Jae Im (Kor), Marc Leishman (Aus), Webb Simpson
18.08 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Harold Varner III
18.19 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
18.30 Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa
18.41 Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm (Spa), Will Zalatoris
18.52 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth
19.03 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy (NIrl)
