AUGUSTA, Ga. — Two players expected to be in the mix at this Masters got off to miserable starts in Thursday’s opening round.
Jordan Spieth, who has won a green jacket and finished runner-up twice in his five tries at Augusta, shot a 3-over 75 and continued his recent slump. Apparently, the sights, sounds and smells of Augusta National were not enough to snap him out of his yearlong funk.
Then there was Justin Rose, ranked No. 1 in the world and a runner-up finisher in two of the past four Masters. He, too, stumbled to a 75.
Now both players, who are nine shots out of the lead shared by Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, will need to post red numbers Friday simply to make the cut.
“I felt like there was six [under] out there,’’ Rose said. “Not the way I played, but I could see it out there, for sure. There’s just enough moisture in the golf course, yeah, I thought it was playing nice. It was a little tricky. The wind got up a touch in the afternoon, but nothing that you shouldn’t really be able to handle with the golf shots.’’
While some players spoke of tricky conditions, Rose would not use that as an excuse.
“I didn’t think they were that difficult, to be honest with you,’’ he said. “I was surprised at one point when I kept looking at the leaderboard and it was sort of 2-under, 3‑under … it looked like that was a decent score. Then obviously a couple guys managed to get to six.’’
Rose said he had some issues with his driver, saying, “I drove it left the first few holes, hit a couple good putts early that didn’t fall, and from that point there’s nothing really felt easy. I never really found my rhythm.’’
Asked what his mentality is for Friday, Rose said, “First things first — you want to make the cut, obviously, so get off to a good start.
If I can get it back into the red for the tournament [Friday], then you can build a weekend.
“I feel I can still get to 11- or 12‑-under and you never know. … I think this golf course offers a Sunday charge and there’s a 64 out there if you can hit the right shots at the right time. So I’ve just got to give myself the opportunity if I do play a dream round I’m close enough.’’