AUGUSTA NATIONAL — Everybody loves a bit of Masters merchandise. What, you wonder, was on the shopping list of Greg Norman during the opening round? The LIV Golf commissioner was spotted for the second time this week at Augusta, on this occasion taking a sneaky peak at Scottie Scheffler’s and Rory McIlroy’s group.
In case Norman needed reminding of Scheffler’s value, the world No 1 rattled off the only bogey-free round of the day to sit one off Bryson DeChambeau’s shock lead on six under par. It would appear the greatest threat to Scheffler’s prospects, other than DeChambeau, is the possibility of wife Meredith going into labour.
The Schefflers’ first child is due at the end of the month. Like the dutiful husband he is, Scheffler has pledged to depart the scene should his wife go into labour prematurely.
“Pregnancy is weird. It can happen at any time. Yeah, open lines of communication and she can get hold of me if she needs to. Yeah, I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice,” he said.
Were Norman planning to tempt Scheffler with an offer, any figure would have to better the $450m that secured Jon Rahm’s signature. McIlroy would not come cheap, either, though his value appears to be stalling.
After signing for a 71, his only under par opening round since 2018, McIlroy paid tribute to Scheffler’s ability to post a spectacular score unspectacularly. “Scottie does such a good job. It doesn’t look like it’s 6-under par, and then at the end of the day it’s 6-under par. He’s just so efficient with everything,” he said.
“If you look at Scottie compared to the rest of the field, the amount of bogey-free rounds he plays is phenomenal. That’s the secret to winning major championships. Winning big-time golf tournaments is more limiting the mistakes rather than making a ton of birdies. I made three bogeys today, which is fine out there in these conditions, but just need to tidy it up a little bit to try to keep up with him.”
The weather disruption that delayed the start by 150 minutes left a number of players, including Tiger Woods, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrell Hatton, still to complete their rounds when play was called at 7:51pm. Woods stood at one under with five to play, Fleetwood two under with eight to play and Hatton three under with four to play.
Tournament leader DeChambeau revealed his growing maturity on a course where he has struggled in the past, haunted perhaps by his boast of four years ago that for him par around here should really be 67. “I have a level of respect for this golf course that’s a little bit different than a couple years ago,” he said.
“Regarding the 67 comment, I’m not a perfect person. Everybody messes up. You learn from your mistakes, and that was definitely one. I shot 65 today, and that was one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in a long time. There’s three more days to go, and I’m not losing sight of that. Just got to go execute.”
Day 1 early report: Bombs away for DeChambeau as Willett makes a dream comeback
For those who believe Bryson DeChambeau is doing the devil’s work as a LIV golfer, an exorcism might be on the agenda in the coming days. The $125m it cost Saudi Arabia to secure DeChambeau’s services looked like a bargain on the opening day at the Masters, where he opened with a seven-under-par 65.
Were DeChambeau to continue his ascent the debate about the future of the game will doubtless coalesce around this powerful advocate for reconciliation. The idea that any LIV Golf departees should ever be shown mercy and a way back to the main stage is anathema to many, yet the case for it is made by television figures that have fallen by as much as 40 per cent this year.
Like him or loathe him, DeChambeau is box office. Four years ago, after suggesting par around here was 67 for him, he lived up to his bombast, reminding the game of his star power. This is no longer the behemoth who brought the formidable Winged Foot to its knees to win the 2020 US Open. DeChambeau has undergone quite the conversion since his departure to LIV, and not only to the concept of 54-hole tournaments and shotgun starts.
The muscular hitting that took him to his first major victory has been sacrificed for control, and served him beautifully at a course where he missed the cut in his prior two visits and has never bettered the tie for 21st he recorded as an amateur eight years ago. Despite the boasts of his adjusted par score he has bettered the actual par of 72 only six times and just three since he made the claim. Indeed, in his 24 rounds here he had shot over par 14 times.
The puzzled look that he has worn so often was replaced by one of utter satisfaction as he blazed through the back nine with five birdies in his closing seven holes to lead in the clubhouse by three.
Another with plenty to smile about was Danny Willett, who, eight years after picking the pocket of Augusta to win the Masters, was green jacket hunting once again.
Just six months ago Willett was looking at a 12-18 months stretch in rehab following surgery to correct a long-standing shoulder complaint. His appearance here was still conditional on a late fitness check.
“It was kind of just get the head down and see if we can kind of just push that extra little bit these last few days and really see if we can be in a place where we feel like we’ve at least got a sniff of playing all right,” he said on the eve of the tournament.
Willett was in the third group out. The adrenaline was pumping as he walked to the putting green, a shared joke with a marshal a manifestation of the excitement he was feeling. Willett’s victory here, a marvel by any measure, was also a burden since it heaped upon his shoulders an expectation for which he was unprepared.
He has made the cut here only twice since. A ranking that rose to ninth with his Masters win currently stands at 260. Even before the operation to correct a long-standing shoulder injury it had fallen to 189th. Let’s just say there was a bounce about him on the first tee. Had he not been announced as a former champion few of those in attendance would have picked him out of a line.
Circumstance had given him a free pass to go out and enjoy the day unencumbered by any idea that he might contend. Thus liberated Willett was playing to an agenda entirely his own. Amazing what a sense of liberation can do for a golfer. Willett eschewed convention, selecting the 3-wood over the driver, control over distance, for his opening blow of the tournament. Having split the fairway, he fired his approach from 159 yards to 19 feet and holed the putt. What a way to start.
Having recorded the first birdie of the tournament, he added a second at the third. Once again he opted for position off the tee at the shortest par-4 on the course and was closest to the pin with his approach. Five feet to be precise, from where the ball disappeared into the cup.
Wow, a two-shot lead. Granted this would soon be under threat from the players coming up behind. Nevertheless, this was not a scenario he imagined might be his experience when he arrived at Augusta five days prior uncertain whether he would be fit enough to start.
The journey around here is rarely without impediment. Bogeys at the fifth, 10th and 14th reminded him of that. But three birdies in his closing four holes reprised the spirit of 2016 and took him to within sight of the summit at four under par.
Masters 2024 leaderboard, day one
Did not complete their first round due to late start*
- 1 Bryson DeChambeau (-7)
- 2: Scottie Scheffler (-6)
- 3: Nicolai Hojgaard* (-5)
- T4: Danny Willett, Max Homa* (-4)
- T6: Ryan Fox, Cam Davis, Tyrell Hatton* (-3)
For the full scorecard see Masters.com
