All eyes were on Jordan Spieth today in anticipation of his rendezvous with the famed par-3 12th hole at Augusta National, site of his epic quadruple bogey meltdown which cost him a chance to win his second green jacket. As expected, Spieth was up to the challenge, hit the green, and parred the hole. He won’t make another quad at Augusta for another 30 years, right? Wrong.
On the typically easy 530 yard par-5 15th, Spieth unexpectedly blew up again. Granted due to the gusty conditions with winds blowing up to 30 MPH, the hole played the toughest it ever has since the third round in 2007. After a decent drive that split the fairway, Spieth decided to lay up. With wedge in hand, Spieth was in go-zone, until his approach shot caught a gust of wind and spun back off the green into the pond that guards the front. He then miscalculated his fifth shot and flew the green. From there he managed to get it on the putting surface, but then uncharacteristically three-putted for a quadruple-bogey nine.
“You think of it as a birdie hole, obviously, being a par 5, and, unfortunately, I still thought of it as a birdie hole today,” Spieth said, according to Golf Channel. “It really isn’t, when you layup. I used a club that would spin, instead of one that would take the spin off.”
Speith has recorded three quadruple bogeys in his PGA Tour career, two of which now came in back-to-back rounds at Augusta National. Here’s a look at the mess he made:
At the end of the day, Spieth ended up shooting a three-over 75, his highest score in 13 career rounds at the Masters. He sits in T41 but knows with the wind going to play a factor as well on Firday, he’s still in the mix.
“Fortunately, we’re still in it,” Spieth said. “Looks like something in single digits could win this. I can still shoot single digits.”
On the other hand, Charley Hoffman fired the best round of the day with a seven-under 65 that included 9 birdies and only two bogeys. For perspective, his score was just about 10 strokes better than the field average on Thursday. Hoffman is only the third person in Masters history to carry a four or more shot lead into the second round. You can legitimately argue it was one of the best rounds not only in the history of the Masters but the history of the game. Here are his incredible highlights:
Watch @hoffman_charley‘s first round in under three minutes. #themasters pic.twitter.com/jwlkU5OjF8
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 6, 2017
In all only 11 players broke bar during the first round. Masters rookie Will McGirt sits in second after a stellar three-under 69, and the ageless Lee Westwood is in third. Rory McIlroy fought his way back to finish at even, while Jason Day who is playing in the first event since his mother’s cancer surgery is currently T26 after a solid (considering the conditions) 74. Here’s a look at the leaderboard after the first round:
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