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A couple of majestic bump-and-runs, first by English to ten feet, as good as he could do, then by Henley to a couple of feet. Henley's was so deft. Westwood splashes from the sand to eight feet. Only Henley is close enough to convert, and he ends the day with a 73, at +1 alongside Westwood. English slips to +2. And that, on a very long, slow day - shame shame shame and so sorry for our technical failings - is that, with the leaderboard looking like this:
-4: Haas
-3: Scott, Oosthuizen, B Watson
-2: K Stadler, Blixt, Woodland, Walker, Choi, Snedeker, Leishman
-1: Couples, Fowler, Jimenez, Manassero, Spieth, McIlroy, Gallacher, Molinari
One group left out on the course, then. And Westwood, from the middle of the fairway on 18, pushes his approach into the bunker to the right of the green. Not as bad as his playing partners English and Russell Henley. Both at -1, they wang their shots out to the left, in Sergio Country.
Els sends a putt from the fringe five feet past the hole. Mickelson makes his par, and signs for a fairly depressing 76. He's +4. That's the first time he's had two 7s on his card since the third round of the 1997 PGA, and those were the days when we didn't know whether he could ever get the job done. Rose puts his par putt in for a 76 of his own, which is not bad seeing he was +3 after three holes. Birdies at 13 and 15 have put a bit of polish on that for him. And finally Els knocks in his bogey effort, ending the day at +3. Off you all go!
Mickelson, Els and Rose all make a pig's lug of their approaches to 18. Els is through the back, and duffs the chip to the green. Phil is short at the front of the green, and doesn't hit his putt. Rose repeats Lefty's trick. This isn't great entertainment. You're all in bed, aren't you. If not, go to bed.
Westwood gives himself a decent chance of birdie at 17, finding the heart of the green with one of the day's better approaches at a difficult hole. But first up is English, who rattles in a monster to birdie the hole and move to +1. It's the highlight of the act, as Westwood can only trundle his effort to the side of the hole, the ball breaking right at the last. He remains at level par.
If Luke Donald's day wasn't bad enough, it turns out he'd been fingered for touching the sand with his club on 9, turning a double-bogey six into a quadruple-bogey 8. That's a round of +7, and he'll be going home at the weekend barring something very strange.
A lovely iron into 16 by Westwood, pin high, leaving a straight enough ten-footer for birdie. But he pushes it out to the right, and it's never dropping. A real chance spurned. The promising Harris English, alongside him, can't convert from close range either, but he's still only +2 and in good nick going into tomorrow. That's nothing on Marc Leishman, though, who has quietly gone about his business today before birdie at the last blows his cover somewhat: he's in the clubhouse at -2!
Bubba rolls a brilliant putt up 18 to a couple of feet. First up to save par though is Sergio, and you know how it goes. Having dropped yet another, he signs for a 74. But Bubba knocks his par putt in, and he's only the fourth player to break 70 today. He's in a fine position for tomorrow, as he, like Oosthuizen before him, is likely to enjoy the kinder conditions of the morning.
A staunch up and down from a bunker on 16 by Els. He remains +2. Mickelson nearly drains a 25-footer for birdie, but is stuck at +4. Up on 18, Sergio doesn't have much green to play with , up on the hill to the left of the green, but gets his ball trickling apologetically onto the putting surface, and he'll have half a chance at a par from 15 feet.
On 18, Sergio sends his tee shot tight down the right, and can't cut his second around the corner. He's in the crowd to the left of the green. Bubba drives into sand, and leaves his second at the front of the putting surface. Two tricky putts remain for only his second bogey-free round in a major.
Mickelson can't make his bogey putt, and he's carded his second seven today. He's back to +4. Els, who had dropped a shot at 14, picks it straight back up at 15: he's +2. Westwood can't rescue his par from an awkward position at the front of 14: he's level par. But a good finish for Jason Day, who birdied 17 and scribbles his name on a 75. He'll need a hell of a round tomorrow, but at least he's given himself a little hope.
Dubuisson clips a gorgeous tee shot at 16 pin high, to eight feet or so. Chance for another birdie. Langer rakes a par saver into the cup from off the green at 18, and signs for a level-par 72. What a fine round from the European legend! Not such great news for Europe regarding Westwood, whose approach to 14 is weak, rolls back down the hill, and leaves the player with an almighty puzzle to solve if he wants to get up and down for par. Or Molinari, who can't make his birdie on 18 and must settle for a 71. Meanwhile Mickelson's mid-round recovery is all but ruined. He lays up at 15, then sends his wedge into the water. He hits his fifth shot to eight feet, but this round is running out of control again.
Sergio has gone in the head. His approach to 17 is short, and he fails to get up and down, missing another short putt. He's back to +1. Bubba meanwhile pars the hole. He's bogey-free through 17 holes, and if he manages to avoid dropping a shot down 18, it'll only be his second round in a major without a bogey, the first coming at the 2009 US Open. Stenson couldn't make his birdie on 17, incidentally, but here's a late-evening European boost: Victor Dubuisson has birdied 13 and now 15, and he's +1. Meanwhile on 18, Molinari has sent his second just over the flag, and has half a chance for a final-hole birdie that'd take him to -2. Far from a gimme, mind you.
A rather brilliant shot from Westwood, who has been fortunate to find his ball in a clearing in front of the trees down the left, just over the creek. He finds the far fringe of the green with a crisp lob, the right side for the flag, and has given himself a chance of getting up and down for par. But he hits an aggressive putt back, and leaves himself a seven-foot tester for par. Which is coincidentally what Mickelson has done on 14. Lefty can't save his par, and drops back to +2 - but Westy can, and remains at -1.
Mickelson's second to 14 is right at the flag, but too strong and falls off the back of the upturned-saucer green. He'll do well to get up and down from there. But trouble is all relative, and on 13, Westwood hooks his second into the trees down the left. Anything could have happened to that. And Westwood going so well at -1, too.
A good par saver from Sergio on 16, ten feet from the cup, a decent effort given what happened on 15. Bubba was a dimple away from another birdie, after sticking his tee shot 15 feet over the flag, then nearly curling in the left-to-right downhill putt. But no. On 17, Langer hits the flagstick with his approach, but can't prod home the glacial downhill birdie effort. Coming up behind him is Stenson, whose approach is pin high, ten feet from the flag. A great chance to move to -1.
Mickelson chips up to eight feet on 13, and rolls in the birdie effort. He's+1 now, and this is a great response to that nonsense on 7. He's a shot ahead of his playing partner Els, who splashes out of the water, saving himself a penalty stroke, and then getting up and down for par! He's holding on for dear life, having reached the turn in 39 but grabbed one back at 12. The luck's going with Mickelson, certainly: he carves his drive into the trees down the left of 14, but the ball's dispatched back onto the fairway.
Sergio, though. For goodness sake. He wandered off the green there with that I'm Never Going To Win A Major look plastered all over his stunned coupon. You know that look.
Mickelson's dodgy day continues, as he sends his approach to 13 well left of the green; he'll do very well to get up and down for birdie. But at least he has the chance; his playing partner Els has dumped his second into the water. Up on 15, Bubba can't knock in a very makeable eagle putt, but he makes the birdie: he's -3. Sergio, however, is still at level par. Having dropped a shot at 14, he chips his third to three feet at 15 - and prods one of the most hopeless putts you'll ever see wide right. That was always missing. Dear lord.
Bubba has just clattered his second at 15 into the heart of the green. He looks on it today. As does Francesco Molinari, who missed a birdie chance at 14 but has responded by knocking in two very decent putts at 15 and 16, the latter a real rake up an undulating green. He's -1.
Langer is a turn away from another birdie, this time at 16. He's still level par. Back on 12, Mickelson should be chalking up a birdie, but he doesn't commit to the putt and he's forced to make do with par. He then nearly sends his drive into the ditch down the left of 13, but that will be OK. Dustin Johnson can't make his bogey putt at 15, and he'll be back to +4.
It's Dustin Johnson Meltdown Time! He duffs a short chip into 15, his third stroke from the centre of the fairway, and the ball flumps into the water. What a ridiculous outcome. His fifth bites six feet from the hole, in fairness, but he'll need to clear his head before attempting to escape from that with just the bogey. Clearer of mind is Louis Oosthuizen, who eases his second into 18 pin high, then slides the putt into the middle of the cup. He signs for a three-under 68. He's the one shot behind the leader Bill Haas, but on Sky, Colin Montgomerie makes the fair point that his score is as good as the lead, because tomorrow Oosthuizen will be going out early when conditions are friendlier, while Haas will be romping around when the sun has baked the greens real good.
Mickelson's tee shot at 12 is pin high. He's on something of a roll now. He's left with a ten-footer for birdie. That's one of the shots of the day on a hole that's caused all sorts of bother. A birdie for Marc Leishman on 13, and he's one of the select few under par this afternoon: he's -1. Meanwhile here's quite a round from the 1985 and 1993 champion Bernhard Langer: a birdie at 15 which takes him to level par. He's been on das bundesrollercoaster this afternoon: bogey at 7, birdie at 8 and 10, bogey at 11, double bogey at 12, birdie at 13... and now this. Speaking of the older gentlemen, a confirmation of the scorecard of Sandy Lyle, one time leader earlier today: he ended with a 76, a double bogey at 11 setting him off on a grim back nine of 41. Not ideal, but how high did we all feel back there for a while?
What a par save on 11 by Mickelson! He sends his second into Larrymizeland, way to the right of the green, then nearly sends his chip up straight through the green and into the water. But he strokes home the 20-foot return, and stays at +2. He doesn't quite look in total control of his short game, despite these amazing putts on 10 and 11. But then if he hangs on in there... well, with Lefty, you never know.
A fairly shoddy three-putt on17, and Louis Oosthuizen finds himself back at -2. That was pretty poor, a very tentative first putt did for him, as he'd hit a solid approach into the heart of the green. So here's how the top of the leaderboard looks:
-4: Haas (F)
-3: Scott (F)
-2: K Stadler (F), Blixt (F), Woodland (F), Walker (F), Choi (F), Snedeker (F), Oosthuizen (17), B Watson (13)
Here's Ewan Murray's take on Adam Scott's 69, which includes this ambitious quote from the defending champ:
I hope I get on one of those runs where I am a guy who develops an affinity for the golf course, like Phil Mickelson has here.
Sang-Moon Bae sent his second at 15 miles through the green and down into a deep, lush, verdant hell. But he Mickelsons a flop onto the front edge of the green coming back, and curls it into the hole along a massive left-to-right route. He's -1 all of a sudden! That was a brilliant shot. Meanwhile on 10, a hole that 's caused quite a bit of trouble today, Lee Westwood dribbles in a very missable downhill birdie putt for birdie, and he's -1 too! This is a solid performance after an uncertain start.
Bubba's long run of pars comes to an end, but in the most satisfactory way. He clatters his drive at 13 straight over the trees that make up the dogleg on the left, then sails his second over the flag. His 20-foot eagle effort isn't far off dropping, but a birdie will suffice. Bubba looks in control of himself here, as calm as you've ever seen him. Speaking of calm and in control... well, no, but Sergio birdies the hole too. Bubba's -2, while Sergio's a shot behind him, back in the red.
Brilliance from the sand at the front of the 18th green, Gallacher splashing to a couple of inches and saving his par. He signs for a one-under 71 on his first-ever round at Augusta. That's a very decent response to his crumble around the turn, and would be even better had he not missed that tiddler for eagle on 15. it cost him a nice bit of crystal, for a start, as everyone who registers an eagle at the Masters is given a fancy vase.
Mickelson's had the putting meltdown of the day so far, that triple bogey on 7. So sure enough, he sinks the putt of the day too. He's up on the back-left corner of the 10th green. The hole's down near the front. He has to tickle a putt down the green, setting it miles out to the left, and letting it u-turn back towards the hole. Hit with perfect speed, it topples into the hole, and if Augusta had a roof, it'd be somewhere over North Carolina right now. He's back to +2, and with Lefty, you never know, you never know.
Poor old Louis Oosthuizen, who arrows an iron straight at the flag from the 16th tee. It lands ten feet in front of the pin, but then topples down to the left and rolls a stupid distance away. That pin position is needlessly tricky, there's no need to be punishing players for failing to achieve perfection. Not on Thursday, anyway. And poor old Jason Day, who was -1 through 7, but then embarked on a bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey run; he's now +4 through 13. But happy Henrik Stenson, or happy enough anyway. He was floundering at +2, and was a turn of the Titleist from draining a 30-foot uphill eagle putt on 13. He'll make do with birdie, a potential momentum shifter.
Sergio couldn't save his par at 11, but finds the heart of 12 with his tee shot, no mean feet given the shadows flickering across the dancefloor. He's one roll from draining his 30-foot birdie putt. That's par, and he remains at level par. Not a disaster yet, which is great news. Sergio's playing partner Bubba keeps on parring, meanwhile: he's still at -1. Up on 15, Kuchar can't get up and down to save his par, and the six drops him back to +1. He gave it a good go from the dropzone, mind. But Oosthuizen manages an up and down from the back of the green: birdie, and he's -3, tucked in behind the leader Haas, alongside the defending champ Scott.
Poor old Ernie Els. So close and yet so far to a Green Jacket, and it doesn't look like there'll be a fairytale this year. He's already +2 coming up 9, and now he's taken two shots to get his ball up and over the big ridge at the front of the green. He'll be dropping one stroke there:+3. Up on 12, Dustin Johnson, who dropped shots at 5, 9 and 10, grabs one back by guiding in a putt from off the back of the green. He's +2. And at 15, Matt Kuchar, who threw away a title last weekend in Houston by finding water, gets wet again, a fairway wood flying into the creek. He'd been going fairly well at level par, too. His playing partner Oosthuizen sends his second shot flying through the green, a much more preferable outcome.
Tell you who's been steady Eddie today, and it's not often we get the chance to say this: Bubba Watson. He's -1 through 10, having picked up a shot at 3 and parred the rest. He's also just about to make his way around Amen Corner, so there's me grabbing that opportunity while the going is good. His playing partner, one S Garcia, has just hit his second into 11 with a desperate cry of "aw no!", but it's not gone in the water to the left. No, it's in Larrymizeville, miles off to the right of the green. That's not particularly ideal either.
Conditions are getting trickier, with the wind getting up a bit, and the greens, already hard and fast, turned up to 11 now. As a result, there's little going on at the business end of the first-round leaderboard. Louis Oosthuizen is the only man out there anywhere near the leader Haas; he's two off the -4 leader's mark through 14, having dropped a shot at 12. He wasn't far from draining a long birdie putt on 14, incidentally. Meanwhile more spectacular action courtesy of Victor Dubuisson, who nearly slamdunked a hole-in-one at 6, and has now bundled his ball into the cup from off the green at 9, much as you'd dream of bundling an MBM technician down an empty lift shaft. (Apologies again for our slightly slow coverage; we're doing all we can to keep this system running.) Dubussion is level par.
Luke Donald is having a shocker. He's carded three double bogeys today, at 1, 6 and 9. Throw in birdies at 2 and 3 - it was looking OK for just a second or two back there - and a bogey at 5, and he's coming up 10 at +5. His confidence is shot to such an extent that he underhits a putt down a glacial slope. That simply wasn't possible. He manages to trickle in the par saver from a couple of feet, which is something I suppose as on greens like this, that's hardly a gimme. And speaking of gimmes... Gallacher manages to miss his simple uphill eagle putt! What slapstick nonsense! He only just knocks in the return too, which took a good look at the drop before deciding to go for it. A birdie's better than nothing, but really.
Stephen Gallacher of Scotland troubled the top of the leaderboard back there, with birdies at 2, 6 and 9 to move to -3. But then he dropped a stroke at 10, grim preparation for Amen Corner. More shots went at 11 and 12, and all of a sudden he was back at level par. But having just creamed a beauty into the heart of 15, he'll surely be back to -2 before you know it: he's cleared the creek and bumped his ball up to four feet! A simple uphill putt awaits him.
Reed sets his par putt out to the right, and it's never coming back. It stays on top, and he's finished bogey-bogey-bogey. That's a one-over 73, and it'll hurt. As will McIlroy tonight, who drops one at the last too, his par putt sliding by. That's a bogey and a one-under 71, which is also what Jordan Spieth is signing for after a solid par up the last. Spieth and McIlroy react very differently to their scorecards, young Jordan smiling, the slightly less young Rory using words such as eff, and effing. He's still in good position, nobody's ever out of this tournament after posting a first-round in red figures.
Augusta really is teaching poor Patrick Reed a few lessons along the home stretch. He's in the middle of the 18th fairway, but pushes his approach miles right. The Norman Approach. He flops from the sand to 12 feet, a very decent response, and will be desperate to knock that in to scramble par and escape to the locker room for a quick sob. McIlroy isn't playing the hole too cleverly either: after driving into the big bunker down the left, he only just finds the front of the green, then trundles his first putt eight feet past, leaving an awkward downhiller for his par and a two-under 70.
A wonderful up-and-down from off the back of 18, and Adam Scott signs for an opening round of 69. He looks pretty happy with that. Not sporting such a cheery phizog: Phil Mickelson, who runs up a triple-bogey seven on the 7th, after racing a tricky downhill bogey putt miles past the hole. Taking his third shot, just off the back of the green, as a starting point, he took five strokes from less than 20 feet there.
Reed's fourth shot, from a tight lie at the front of 17, is clapped miles past the hole. He does pretty damn well to rap home his bogey effort from 12 feet. He's back to level par. Par for his playing partner McIlroy, meantime, who stays at -2. On 7, Mickelson makes a misjudgement with a delicate greenside chip. Not a terrible one, but a shot that for a second looks like stopping by the cup ends up rolling off the other side of the green. He'll be doing well to save bogey there. And on 8, Sergio pulls an awful birdie putt past the cup. He stands looking confused. You know that look.
Sergio finds the front of the par-five 8th with a long second shot, then whistles his length-of-green eagle effort eight feet past the hole. He was an awful long way from the cup, but really should have given himself a better chance for birdie. Meanwhile young Patrick Reed's round is beginning to get a bit tatty round the edges. After a birdie on 13 that moved him to -2, he gave up a fine chance for birdie on 15, dropped a shot with some wayward putting on 16, and on 17 has just sent his third shot from a bank down the back straight through the green and off the front. Meanwhile Westwood makes his birdie on 6, and he's level par. Momentum, please!
A leaderboard, in lieu of speedy service stymied by jiggered system:
-4: Haas (F)
-3: Scott (17)
-2: K Stadler (F), Blixt (F), Woodland (F), Walker (F), Choi (F), Snedeker (F), McIlroy (16), Oosthuizen (12)
A decent birdie effort on 6, pin high to the back right of the green, slides just to the right of the cup for Justin Rose. He could have done with it, as he's started in a very shoddy fashion, a bogey at 2 followed by a double at 3. Another close birdie effort: Adam Scott on 17, who is a dimple's width away on the right from stroking one home from 20 feet. And let's see what Lee Westwood can do coming up behind Rose on 6: he's +1 for his round so far, but has just creamed a beauty pin high to five feet. He's hardly the most dependable putter on tour, but that's a great chance for Westwood to get his round going.
Catching up (slowly) with some heroes of earlier: Jimenez, who kind of shot his bolt going through Amen Corner with bogey at 11 and double at 12, kept along the straight and narrow all the way home. Six pars, and he signed for a 71. Freddie Couples dropped a shout at 17, but he'll be happy enough with his one-under 71 too. Also in the clubhouse with 71s: Matteo Manassero and Rickie Fowler. And Graeme McDowell will be pleased to have signed for a level-par 72, picking up strokes at 13 and then 17 after his round looked to be heading even further south than Georgia with bogeys at 10 and 11.
Back to back birdies for Sergio! He slides one in on 7 from 25 yards, left to right, and he's -1. All pars so far from Phil Mickelson through 5. Eagle for last week's winner Matt Jones on 13, which takes him back to level par. And McIlroy makes his birdie on 15, so he's -2. I'd like to be more expansive, but we do what we can.
A closing birdie for Haas! He signs for a 68. On 15, McIlroy is inches away from raking home a 40-foot eagle putt. And on 6, Victor Dubisson, who has started slowly and is +2, nearly registers a two-bounce ace, but his ball rather unfairly takes a look into the cup, dipping halfway in, then bouncing out. That'll be a birdie, but so unlucky.
I'm told the Guardian mouse, which powers our fancy new MBM system using his wheel, was fed with a low-quality processed cheese-flavored food slice this morning, as opposed to the tangy cheddar-based pimento mix we usually give it. So this system is really struggling right now. I can only apologise. We are trying our best to work around the problem and keep you updated. Some more basic facts in a desperate attempt to keep you up to speed: 70 is the best clubhouse score so far: Kevin Stadler and Jonas Blixt we already knew about, but they've been joined by Gary Woodland, Jimmy Walker - who carded a streak of four birdies between 14 and 17 - and KJ Choi.
OK, we're back. Apologies. It might take us a few minutes to get back up to speed, so please bear with us. Top of the leaderboard first: Bill Haas has dropped a shot at 17, to move back to -3, while Brandt Snedeker, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen have all been heading the other way: Snedeker with birdies at 15 and 16, Scott picking one up at 14, and Oosthuizen carding birdies at 8 and 9. All four gents are tied for the lead.
Sorry folks, we're having some technical difficulties. The system has seized up. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Thanks to Gregg there. Now, Jason 'The Somnambulist' Dufner hasn't so much been sleepwalking through Amen Corner as sprinting through it screaming while snatching at imaginary sprites floating around in front of his face. He's just bounced this way and that along the creek in front of 13, dunking it in the water here, chunking chips there, and has managed to run up a quadruple-bogey 9. He's +7 for the tournament. He was level par four holes ago! No longer, no longer. Scott gives up an easy chance for birdie, and fails to grab back one of the two shots he dropped at 12.
Oh Stephen! Gallacher sheds a shot at the first opportunity on the back nine, dropping one at the 10th and reversing back into Couples and Scott on -2. And speaking of Scott, a fed and watered Scott Murray is back to do this Masters coverage as it should be done. Properly. Ta ra.
Adam Scott has put himself in a great position to claw a shot back – or better – on the par-five 13th …
Latest leaderboard
-4 Haas (US) 14,
-3 Gallacher (Sco) 9
-2 Couples (US) 16, Scott (Aus) 12,
-1 Jimenez (Spa) 14, Snedeker (US) 13, McIlroy (NI) 11, Garcia (Spa) 2
Scotland hasn't had a major winner since Paul Lawrie at the 1999 Open. Stephen Gallacher has started well today, with birdie at 2, and then clipping his tee shot at 6 to six feet, before tickling in the tricky downhill birdie effort. And now he's birdied the ninth to move a shot behind the leader, Haas, on -3. Terrific morning's work that. Now for the back nine Stephen …
What a gent Scott Murray is. He's even managed to send this update my way from his dinner table: "The amateur Fitzpatrick is in the bunker at the back of 12, he then sends his second miles past the hole – and drains the putt! So he's still +1 Meanwhile, Scott sends his third to eight feet, then pulls his bogey putt. Double bogey, back to -2." So a bit of a setback for Scott, who trails Haas by two shots but nothing he can't retrieve.
Well, Scott's got off to a belting start hasn't he? And Scott Murray hasn't done a bad job either. Yes, that's the kind of top-quality coverage you can expect while Mr Murray is getting fed.
Scott finds water at 12! He seriously underhits his tee shot, the ball flopping apologetically onto the bank over the far side of the creek and rolling back into the briny. That was a dreadful shot. And with that shock to the system, let me hand over to Gregg Bakowski for a few minutes, as I'm watered and taken out for a quick walk. See you very soon.
Fitzpatrick rolls in a 20-foot par saver! He's nerveless! That's outstanding! He remains at +1. What a display this already is by the amateur. To illustrate his brilliance, one of his playing partners, Jason 'The Somnambulist' Dufner, really is sleepwalking his way around the course right now. Having reached the turn in 36, all pars, he's just doubled 10 and dropped another at 11; he's +3. The final member of the group, Scott, isn't too far away from rolling in his birdie chance, such as it was, on 11. Par. Meanwhile on 13, Bill Haas rattles in a 20-footer for birdie, and suddenly he's on his own in second place at -3! Here's the state of the leaderboard, then:
-4: Scott (11)
-3: Haas (13)
-2: K Stadler (F), Blixt (F), Woodland (16), Couples (15), Gallacher (7)
Most of the field have been playing it safe on 11, sending their second shots down the right, making sure not to find the water front left of the green. Not so the champion Adam Scott, who hits a high fade over the lake and lands his ball 20 feet behind the cup. Hardly a gimme for birdie, but he'll not be scrambling to make par like so many others. Now, then, a word about one of Scott's playing partners, the young English amateur Matthew Fitzpatrick. The 19-year-old may well drop a shot at 11, but he's hit a confident and - appropriately, given he's a Sheffield United fan - steely blade into the heart of the green, toying with the water if he hit a bad shot, but playing it well and giving himself a chance to save his par. Brave young man. But then we know that already: having started his round in nightmare slow motion, with a double bogey at 1, he birdied 2, and has parred his way around the course since. He's +1! It's a brilliant performance from a very promising young player.
Snedeker flops out delicately from the sand at the back of 12, but catches the fringe. Par looks a pipe dream now. Amen Corner is already baring its teeth, with a couple of players at the top of the leaderboard coming a cropper in double-quick time. Will it do for Adam Scott? The rest of the field may already be saying a few amens regarding that possibility.
Garcia's parred the 1st. Not a notable story in itself, but this might be as good as it gets for Po' Sergio, so. His playing partner Luke Donald, however, has opened with a disastrous double-bogey six. The final round of the US Open at Merion last summer, when Justin Rose showed Donald how to close out a major, seems such a long time ago now. Meanwhile Snedeker is doing his level best to melt down: he's sent his tee shot at 12 whistling into the thicket behind the green, only to be gifted a spot of luck as his ball clatters a branch and squirts back into the bunker. He's still left himself with quite a poser there, but the alternative wasn't pretty.
So we had our fun earlier with the old guard at the top of the leaderboard. But now the new generation are coming through. Adam Scott has taken sole leadership of the tournament, a birdie at 10 putting him top. And there's clear blue space between the reigning champ and the rest of the field, because Snedeker can't save his par after that appalling tee shot at 11, dropping back to -2. And Jimenez has just left himself a testing downhill five-footer for a double-bogey five at 12. He makes it, but he's back to -1. He's already lost three shots to Amen Corner. I suppose his week can't get much worse round that way. Can it?
Jimenez is not enjoying himself around Amen Corner. Having already shed a shot at 11, he's now only just got his tee shot at 12 over Rae's Creek. The ball bites, then spins back into the drink. He decides not to drop his ball in the drop zone, plonking it down 100 yards back, in the hope of getting plenty of control with his third. But that one's overcooked, and nestles in the fringe at the back of the green. He's half a job on here to make double bogey. This is all very unfortunate.
The most predictable news of the day: Ryan Moore, winner of the Par 3 Contest, and therefore carrying 78 years' worth of history on his shoulders, has it all to do already, with dropped shots at 3 and 4. He's +2 through 4. Graeme McDowell hasn't really been at the races, +2 through 12, but he's just raked in a 20-footer at 13 for birdie, after nearly thinning a chip straight through the green and into the drink. He's +1, and looking quite chipper all of a sudden. Ian Poulter is going the other way, though. After a brisk start, with birdie at 2, he's dropped strokes at 4, 8, 10 and now 13; he's +3 and with the funk on.
Jimenez misses his par putt, and drops to -3, alongside Brandt Snedeker and the reigning champion Adam Scott. How long Snedeker will remain there is a moot point, as he's just wanged his drive at 11 into nonsense down the right. Meanwhile as McIlroy moved backwards, his playing partners Reed and Spieth have made advances, with birdies at 8 and 9 respectively. And on 12, another staunch (and very missable) putt by Stricker, saving par this time. He stays at -2.
Louis Oosthuizen came awfully close to winning here in 2012, hitting one of the greatest Augusta shots along the way, his long iron at 2 for the rarest of rare albatrosses. He's missed three cuts in four stroke-play tournaments this year, so hardly comes to the Masters in form, and lo and behold he drops a shot at 1. But he's responded well, with birdies at 2 and 3. He's -1. Up on 11, the leader Jimenez has left himself a 10-foot par tester, having played it safe with his second down the right, far away from the water, then not hit a particularly notable chip in. The sole leadership might not be his for too much longer.
Steve Stricker showcases once again the benefits of a dependable putting stroke. He's pussyfooted his way down 11 somewhat, and can't get anywhere near the hole with his third. He eventually leaves himself a 12-footer for bogey, but he rattles it straight into the back of the cup, limiting the damage. He drops back to -2. Also dropping back is McIlroy, who sheds his first stroke of the week by running up six at the par-five 8th. Sergio is out in a couple of minutes, incidentally. I don't know whether to be excited or resigned. Actually I do know, but we're back to the thing about dreaming your dreams while you can.
Adam Scott really does look in tip-top shape to defend his title, and join a select band of men who have won back-to-back Masters. Nicklaus, Faldo, Woods ... Scott? He clacked his approach at 1 to three feet for birdie, hit his tee shot at 6 to five feet for another, and now he's just picked up his third shot of the day at 8. He's -3, and with McIlroy sitting in behind him at -2 after birdies at 3 and 5, plus poor old Sandy dropping another at 6 and slipping to -1, the leaderboard has a bit more of a realistic look about it now. Couples couldn't save his par at 12, either. Bah. But Jimenez is still leading! Will Amen Corner be good to him?
-4: Jimenez (10)
-3: Stricker (10), Snedeker (9), Scott (8)
-2: K Stadler (F), Blixt (F), Haas (10), Manassero (10)
Freddie's in a bit of trouble at 12. His tee shot found the bunker back left of the par-three, and he's faced with a treacherous slope, water on the other side of the green, and not much putting surface to land on in front of the hole. Not only that, he's under an overhanging branch, so a high flight is out of the question. But he fashions a ludicrously good escape, squirting the ball wide left into the fringe, which slows it down. The ball trickles onto the back of the green, so he'll be left with a tricky downhill 12-footer for his par, but that could have been so much worse, the damage done with his tee shot.
It couldn't last for Sandy. Of course it couldn't. He's dropped a stroke at 5, and moves back into the pack at -2 alongside assorted riff-raff such as Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy and Fred Couples. Goodness me, but this is a great leaderboard already. Steve Stricker and Brandt Snedeker have taken Lyle's place at -3, with birdies at 10 and 9 respectively. Blixt, meanwhile, ended his round rather disappointingly: having dropped that shot at 14, he shed another up the last, and had to make do with a 70. Still, I'm sure he'd have taken that as an opening round when he jumped out of bed this morning and pulled his shoes on.
Poor old Stewart Cink. Despite our good wishes at the start of this report, he didn't have such a great a day in the end. Not bad, but not as good as it was looking for a while. Having gone through 13 without dropping a shot, he double bogeyed 14 and, though 16 was good to him with a birdie, another dropped shot up the last saw him card a one-over 73. A lot better than his playing partner Tim Clark, though, who ended with a disastrous seven-over 79. They were the first men back in the clubhouse: the best card so far is Kevin Stadler's 70; he's -2, a shot off the lead, safe and sound in the locker room. "You say that Jimenez explains how fitness is for losers but at least he takes his warm up seriously," writes Phil Cowen. "Or as seriously as you can with a cigar in your mouth. What a man." Aye, he's a hero for the modern age. Not least because it takes something special to make Phil Mickelson look as supple and graceful as Darcey Bussell.
Actually, Miguel Angel Jimenez, 50, might have a problem with that! Because he's just birdied 9. He's out in 32 strokes, and is the sole leader of the Masters at -4! I know we've only recently had the leaderboard up, but amuse me while the going's good, will you?
-4: Jimenez (9)
-3: Blixt (17), Lyle (4)
This is preposterous!
... Sandy Lyle has just birdied 4! He's -3 and joint leader alongside Blixt and Jimenez. To repeat: SANDY LYLE IS JOINT LEADER OF THE MASTERS. Is there some way we can stop the tournament now? I don't think anybody would mind.
Another player spoken of as a possible winner this week was the 2007 champion Zach Johnson. But he's started terribly, out in 40 strokes, bogeys at 1, 3, 5 and 6. He's +4 and already in need of something rather special over the back nine to save his tournament. But never mind that, because ...
Angel Cabrera was much fancied as ever going into this week, but it doesn't look like the (comparatively sprightly) 44-year-old will be matching his achievements of last year, never mind 2009. He's just run up a triple-bogey seven at 11, his putter letting him down on the super-fast greens. He's already +6, and not even the gorgeous clack he's just sent to 15 feet at 12 looks like salvaging this round. While we're on the subject of golf's elder statesmen, here's our man in Augusta, Andy Bull, on Arnold Palmer and his fellow grandees Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player rolling back the years at the ceremonial tee-off:
As Nicklaus stood on the tee, he said: "I wish I could do this again." What he meant, he explained afterwards, was that "it was such a great thrill every time we teed it up to play for real, and I think we'd all love to wind the clock back a few years and play, because it's such a great tournament, a great thrill to stand on the first tee, have the butterflies and get that first tee shot over with and get going."
OK, but here's the thing. Lyle, the 1988 winner and the man who played arguably the most iconic shot in Masters history - that iron, from that bunker - is 56 years old. He's a shot off the lead set by Jimenez, 50, and alongside Couples, 54. And there's Steve Stricker, 47, at -2 as well. Now, Adam Scott may have just birdied 6, and Rory McIlroy might have just picked up a shot at 5, both of these young scamps also at -2. But never mind that, never mind them. OK, it's not going to last, but let's just appreciate this while we can. What a leaderboard!
-3: Blixt (16), JIMENEZ (8)
-2: K Stadler (16), COUPLES (9), STRICKER (8), Haas (8), Scott (6), McIlroy (5), ALEXANDER WALTER BARR LYLE (3)
Jose Maria Olazabal and Larry Mize are -1, too. Haw. This is wonderful.
That is all.
Bill Haas started slowly, dropping a shot at the opening hole, but he's got into his stride now. He bounced back with birdie at 2, and has since picked up strokes at 4, with a perfectly weighted 30-foot uphill putt, and 7. Meanwhile the leader Blixt has just slipped back into a tie at -3 with Jimenez, dropping a shot at the par-five 15th. Let's say it while we can: Jimenez leads the Masters, with Fred Couples a shot behind. It's on!
And if the news about Couples isn't good enough, Jimenez has now rattled in a second birdie on the bounce, at 7. He's -3, a shot off the lead! His birdie at 6 was hilarious and typically Spanish, a tee shot which hit the bank on the right of the green and rolled back and off the front of the playing surface, followed by a chip-and-run from the fringe which scampered into the hole like a mouse with a lump of cheese in its slavering maw. Jimenez, Couples, Tom Watson and Greg Norman have all had serious tilts at majors in recent years. At some point, one of the older gentlemen is going to finally break Julius Boros's record of winning a major as a 48-year old (the PGA in 1968). It probably won't happen here this week, but then again, why the hell not? What's the point in watching professional sport if you're not allowed to dream a few preposterous dreams? Just imagine Jimenez squeezing into a Green Jacket on Sunday evening, his cigar balanced on the edge of the mantlepiece in the Butler Cabin so he doesn't burn the cuffs while he's putting it on? If there's a God of golf, hear my prayer.
Fred Couples has just birdied 8. He's -2! He's going to do it to us again, isn't he. Because here comes hope! His recent record at Augusta, for a fiftysomething, is nothing short of astonishing! A sixth-placed finish in 2010, and he's been inside the top 15 every time since! He led at the halfway stage in 2012, and was a shot off the lead at the same point last year. Again? Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but: yes please!
Last year, Thorbjorn Olesen shot a fairly dismal opening round of 78. Then, having worked out what Augusta was all about, followed it up with rounds of 70, 68 and 68. He ended up in a tie for sixth, a pretty damn fine debut all told. Well, he's picking up where he left off, carding a birdie at 3. He's -1, and could very easily become part of a serious Scandinavian challenge alongside the leader Blixt and the much-fancied Henrik Stenson.
Here's Miguel Angel Jimenez, a walking billboard explaining why fitness is for losers. He's just birdied 6, his second of the day, and moves to -2, tied alongside Kevin Stadler (a walking billboard explaining why fitness etc., and so on, and so forth) and the admittedly more trim Matteo Manassero. Meanwhile Patrick Reed, a winner on tour twice this year already, has opened strongly with a birdie at 2. He's -1 through 3, where he's been joined in the red numbers by Rory McIlroy, who has just picked up his first stroke of the week. Spieth has three pars on the bounce, and we're up to date with the antics of those talented young chappies.
Fred Couples on the leader board, then. He picked up the shot at 5, sending his approach sailing smoothly into the heart of the green with one of those trademark did-anything-even-happen-there swings, then rolling in a 20-footer with a pretty big left-to-right break. A magnificent read from the 1992 champ. He's now -1 through 7. Meanwhile the first of this year's amateurs to reach Amen Corner has endured a bit of a shocker on 12, a triple bogey involving some mountaineering over the slippery banks at the back of the green. Shame. Still, if it can happen to Ben Crenshaw, it can happen to anyone, and it'll be a character-building experience for the young US Amateur Public Links champion.
Blixt can't make his eagle putt, which to be fair was possibly more like ten feet from the hole. Still, what an opportunity. He's let that slide by, though, and has a four-foot tester coming back to get the birdie his superlative approach deserves at the very least. He knocks it in, no bother, and leads the tournament by two shots at -4. Meanwhile there have been steady starts from the exuberant trio of Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and the relatively superannuated Rory McIlroy. Pars all round down the opening hole. "So glad Sergio is already dominating the MBM," begins Thomas Cox, that rare thing, a satisfied customer. "The day I stop believing in Sergio is the day I stop believing. But I think that extra 1% you want from him will have to be a 12-shot lead stood on the tenth tee on Sunday; and even then I'll be behind the sofa." I'd be behind the sofa too. Wearing a tinfoil hat. Don't expect much from the MBM on Sunday evening if all this comes to pass.
Another birdie for Kevin Stadler, this time on 13. The commentators on the Amen Corner coverage have just called the big man Craig, which is understandable enough I guess. This is like the Walrus in his pomp. He moves to -2, a shot behind Blixt. And once he vacates the green, the tournament leader hits what I guarantee will remain one of the shots of the week, no matter what happens over the next four days. Blixt, on the right-hand side of the fairway at the top of the hill, creams a wood into the heart of the green, drawing it out left and letting the putting surface do the work. The ball makes it over the creek - he's gambling Mickelson-style already, there's a reason pars have been so hard to come by - and lands left-centre of the green, then curls round in a huge arc to the right, rolling back down towards the pin near the front-right. He's got a six-foot downhill tickler for eagle there. That is magnificent! What a player Blixt is. Some performance for his first-ever round at Augusta!
You'll have noticed the last name on our leaderboard: Adam Scott. The reigning champion has started the defence of his title in some style, with an opening-hole birdie. We'll be hearing more of the genial Australian later, no doubt, so let's not thrash the subject now. On 12, it's THREE PARS IN A ROW FOR BLIXT!!! All very, very strange. He remains out on his own at the top at -3. His playing partner Ben Crenshaw, a statesmanlike 62 years of age, is at the polar opposite of the standings. After dropping shots at 10 and 11, he's now put two in the water at the short 12th. A triple bogey sees him crashing down to +10. But let's not dwell on this. What a stunning player the two-time Master was. This is Crenshaw's 43rd start at Augusta. 43rd!!! Only Sam Snead, Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus, Ray Floyd, Doug Ford, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have competed here more often. That's some company to be keeping. And everyone's going to have one or two bad days at the office during a 43-year career, huh?
Blixt, from wide out right on the 11th fairway, lifts a lovely wedge straight over the flag and gives himself a very decent chance of scrambling par. And he dribbles a glacial 12-footer with slight left to right shift along the green and into the cup! That's a magnificent par, and one that will feel like a birdie. So he's through 11 having made, what, three and a half pars, shall we say? However you wish to slice it, he's -3 for his round, a shot ahead of not Fowler - who has just bogeyed 5 - but Manassero, who has followed up his birdie at 2 with another at 3. Here's the leaderboard, it ain't worth much right now, but it sure is pretty to look at from a European perspective:
-3: Blixt (11)
-2: Manassero (3)
-1: Cink (13), K Stadler (12), FRED COUPLES!!! (6), Simpson (6), Fowler (5), Choi (4), Jimenez (3), Snedeker (2), Donaldson (2), Scott (1)
Kevin Stadler clips his tee shot at 12 to six feet, and taps in the birdie putt. He's -1. While we're on the subject of fathers and sons, anyone up for today's Sport Picture of the Day?
Here's Blixt, coming down 11. Now, he's just parred 10, his first for eight holes, but don't think he'll be getting into that habit any time soon. He's skelped his drive into filth down the right, and I'm not sure what he was trying to do with his second. It wasn't a take-your-medicine escape from below the trees. It's hit wood, anyway, and his ball is still well up the fairway along the right. He'll be doing well to escape with a bogey here. He's the current sole leader at -3, by the way, as Webb Simpson has just double-bogeyed 5. But there could be further changes afoot, which is all good news for Rickie Fowler at -2.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, who at some point this week will be caught wandering around the premises with an open bottle of red in one hand and a smouldering Cuban in the other, win or lose, has birdied 2. He's -1, as is his young European colleague and playing partner Matteo Manassero, who has also birdied the long par-five 2nd. Meanwhile another couple of Americans who have started quickly: Steve Stricker, and Brandt Snedeker, who have birdied 2 and 1 respectively.
Jimmy Walker is one of the form players on the PGA Tour in 2014, with two wins and three top-20 finishes already. He's expected to do well this week, and never mind that this is his debut at Augusta at the age of 35. He opens with a couple of pars, then a birdie at 3 ... and a bogey at 4. On 11, Huh takes his medicine - and avoids toppling back into the briny - by gently lifting a chip into the heart of the green, then sending his long par putt to within a dimple of the cup. Unlucky, but he's back to +3 now. Meanwhile at the business end of the nascent leaderboard, Rickie Fowler - one of many players who really should be winning one of these major tournaments soon - has started strongly with birdies at 2 and 4. He's -2, sitting just behind Blixt and Simpson at the top.
John Huh has been up and down so far. Bogeys at 1 and 9, a double at 7, and birdies at 2 and 10 have got him pegged at +2. On 11, he attempts to cream a hybrid from a tight spot under a tree down the right onto the green, sends it bounding towards the drink front left of the putting surface, and is inches away from becoming the first man to get wet this year. But his ball somehow grips on the downslope, and he'll at least have a chance of getting up and down. An awkward stance awaits. If he leans back too far, get ready to fire up YouTube, someone will be set to go viral.
This isn't even news now. Jonas Blixt joins Webb Simpson at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie at 9. He's out in 33, -3 for the tournament so far, having carded a grand total of two pars up to this point, and those at the opening two holes to boot. He'll be coming through Amen Corner soon enough, and if he keeps this going, we'll have something to remember one way or another.
Clark isn't on his own, adrift at +6, though. The 1982 champion Craig Stadler dropped shots at 2, 3, 5 and 6, and has just double bogeyed 7. He's +6 too, and well done to the good folk running the Masters for avoiding the temptation to pair Stadler with his son Kevin, as the young lad's handily placed at -1, and nobody wants to embarrass their pop.
The futility of posting leaderboards (pt 1 in a series of 984,982): Woodland and Poulter have both dropped a shot at 4, and fallen back into the rather large pack at level par right now. Meanwhile Gentle Ben continues to take a torrid battering from a course that was once so good to him: Crenshaw, the 1984 and 1995 champ, has just carded his fifth bogey in a row, 4 through 8, and is +5 now. He's not rock bottom, though, because Tim Clark, who had steadied the ship with pars on 7, 8, 9 and 10, drops another at 11. He couldn't attack the flag, tucked behind the water front left, with his wedge coming into the green, and failed to rake home the 30-footer he'd left himself for par. His playing partner Stewart Cink played the hole steady as you like, and he remains at -1.
Blixt's round is just ridiculous now. He's birdied the par-five 8th to move back to -2, and still hasn't registered a par since the 2nd. He doesn't have a share of the lead, though, for Simpson has sprung out of the blocks in some style, and has just carded his third birdie on the bounce. He's -3 through 3, and the early tournament leader. This is what the leaderboard looks like, just as the early groups prepare to become the first players to tackle Amen Corner this year:
-3: Simpson (3)
-2: Blixt (8)
-1: Cink (10), K Stadler (9), Woodland (3), Poulter (3), Fowler (1)
A new leader here: Webb Simpson - whose win at the 2012 US Open remains his only top ten finish in a major, a ridiculous record given his talent - has added a birdie at 2 to the one he picked up on the opening hole. The perfect start to his tilt at the title. Stewart Cink has reached the turn in 35, a very steady -1 for his round so far. And the late-blooming John Senden, who has put on a few decent shows at the majors in recent times, has started well here: five pars and now a birdie at 6 to join Cink, Stadler, Blixt, Woodland and Poulter at -1. Seven men under par at the moment, then, with 32 of the field out on the course. "I notice that a rival website has a number of 'experts' who are tipping, how shall I put this, a talented but brittle Spanish golfer to win this week," writes Simon McMahon. "According to them, he is putting well and, get this, seems 'very content and settled'. Will you tell them or shall I?" I wouldn't at all be surprised to see a rerun of his antics in Houston last week, when he opened 67-65 then found water on his way to a third-round 73 and kind of gave up a bit after that. But hopefully he can raise his game the extra one percent or so that's required to get the job done. He has finished in the top ten three times on tour this year, with a tied-16th his lowest result. I still believe he's got a major in him. I'm deluded, and high on coffee with far too much sugar in it, but lordy lordy, I still believe. C'mon Sergio, strike while the iron's lukewarm.
Some movement most pleasant! Tom Watson, winner here in 1977 and 1981, has just carded his second birdie of the day, this time at 4, to move to -1. This has him joint tied for the lead, for what that's worth at this early stage, because Blixt has just dropped back to -1 with a bogey at 7. That's no par for him since the 2nd. His tee shot at 6 was exquisite, by the way, a gentle pin-high lift to eight feet, the putt trundled in soon after. Joining them at -1 alongside Cink, Kevin Stadler and Weir: the big-hitting Gary Woodland, who has just eaten up 2, and his playing partner Ian Poulter. Poults has of late been making a habit of last-day charges up the leaderboard at majors, having left it too long. It'd be interesting if he can get a good start here, and hold on until the back nine on Sunday. He's got the moxie required to do well here; he just needs to put it all together.
Jonas Blixt appears to have totally forsaken par golf. The last we heard of him, not that long ago either, he'd followed a birdie at 3 with a bogey at 4. Well, since then, he's carded back-to-back birdies at 5 and 6, and is now sole leader of this young 2014 Masters Tournament at -2. He's a shot ahead of Cink, Kevin Stadler, Weir and Webb Simpson, the latter three picking up shots at 7, 2 and 1 respectively. Kaymer is back to level par, though, having just dropped a shot at 4. The early starters will be looking to post a score, as while the weather at Augusta is likely to remain lovely and warm all day, the wind might get up later in the afternoon. While the greens, of course, get harder and harder under the sun.
A fairly miserable few minutes for the Family Stadler. Young Kevin has just bogeyed 6 to move back to level par, while dad Craig has opened with bogeys at 2 and 3. News of some other erstwhile champions: Ben Crenshaw has taken a not-so-gentle fall down the leaderboard, dropping shots at 4, 5 and now 6 to plummet to +3 after a steady start. The 2009 winner and last year's runner up Angel Cabrera, much fancied as a dark horse this year, which probably means he's not such a dark horse any more, has dropped a shot at the opening hole. Woosie's bright start has clouded over, with bogeys at 4 and 5; he's back to +1. But it's all pars for Mark O'Meara through 4, and Mike Weir after, eh, 1. Finally there's Tom Watson, who dropped a shot at 1 but snatched it back off Augusta National at the very next hole; he's level through 3.
A little bit more shoogling around at the top of this young leaderboard. Cink is still up there at -1 through 7, having kept it steady since his birdie at 3, though Blixt has now dropped back into the slowly expanding pack at level par, handing his birdie at 3 straight back at 4. But Kevin Stadler - not so much the mini-me of his dad, the 1982 champ Craig, but the facsimile - has just birdied 5 to join Cink at -1. The 2010 PGA champion Martin Kaymer is up there at -1 too, after a birdie at the long 2nd. Kaymer has never really performed at Augusta, missing his first four cuts since his debut in 2008, but he's getting slowly better, with a top 50 finish in 2012 and a place in the top 40 last time round. It might be a bit much to ask Kaymer to break Europe's barren spell this time round - we've not won a Green Jacket since Jose Maria Olazabal triumphed in 1999 - but give him another couple of years and at this rate of improvement he just might do the job.
Another player perhaps best avoided, unless you're a particularly reckless gambler, is Ryan Moore. Not that he's in particularly bad form, with two early-season top-ten finishes on the PGA Tour. And he's not out until 12.09 local time, so he hasn't had an opportunity to Clark it up yet. Problem is, he won the Par 3 Contest yesterday, the winner of which, famously and unfortunately for Moore, has never gone on to put on a Green Jacket in the same year. Moore shot -6 to win the Contest, two strokes ahead of Kevin Stadler and 1979 Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller. It was some performance, though, his card of 21 just one short of the record jointly held by Art Wall (1965) and Gay Brewer (1973). Given that the key to winning around Augusta is being hot with your short irons and flat stick, this should be a good sign for Moore. Actually, ignore the advice in bold at the head of this entry. If you're not in thrall to historical quirks, lump on!
PREDICTIONS CORNER (No. VOID in a series of 0): "Any chance of kicking things off by giving us your prediction of the green jacket occupant come Sunday evening?" asks Matthew Taylor. "For what it's worth, I've wasted my cash on MBM staples Sergio and The Somnambulist so at least I can blame you and your colleagues when my bets go up Rae's Creek without a paddle." There's no point in asking me to predict sporting events. By way of illustration, I thought Manchester United were going to win the league again this season. So, y'know. But here's a little early advice on who to avoid. Tim Clark, who showed so well here last year, appears to be in no sort of form whatsoever. He's done nothing of note in 2014 so far, and has opened his round in an appalling fashion, bogeying the first two holes, then following up with another bogey at 5 and a double at 6. He's +5 through 6, and propping up the nascent leaderboard.
Turns out it was Woosnam who edged Cink to the honour of making the first birdie at this year's Tournament. Much good it's done him, as he's handed it back at 4. Cink, who has been steady as you like through 5, isn't the sole leader, though, as he's been joined at what counts as "the top" at this early stage by Jonas Blixt, who has just birdied 3. The Swede is on something of a roll in the majors, then, having briefly threatened to win the PGA last year before finishing fourth at Oak Hill behind The Somnambulist, Jim Furyk and Henrik Stenson. It'd be no surprise to see at least one or two of those names bothering the top of the leaderboard again this week.
Of course, before Cink clacked his ball down Tea Olive in anger, some ceremonial shots were creamed away in the classical style. The honorary starters, in order of their first Green Jacket won:
A mere 13 Green Jackets between them, then. For the record, here's the roll of honour at Augusta, multiple winners only, or we'll be here all day:
6: Jack Nicklaus
4: Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods
3: Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson
2: Horton Smith, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Jose Maria Olazabal
It's no good, I can't sit still. Not least because Cink has just registered the first birdie of this year's Tournament, at 3. Well, it's either him or the 1991 Masters champion Ian Woosnam, another early starter, who has just picked up a shot at the long par-five 2nd. Any old excuse for the first Masters leaderboard of the year!
-1: Cink (3), Woosnam (2)
E: Huh (2), K Stadler (2), Crenshaw (1), Blixt (1), O'Meara (1), Bowditch (1), Niebrugge (1)
It doesn't mean much, admittedly. But there are four major winners and three former Masters champions on it, so there it is.
As clearly stated in the terms and conditions outlined in the preamble, this report won't start rolling in earnest until around 2pm BST, 9am at Augusta National Golf Club. But what sort of people would we be if we didn't want to record that the first shot of the 2014 Masters Tournament has been struck, by the 2009 Open Championship winner Stewart 'Drippy Faucet' Cink, no less? People not already running a high Masters Fever, that's what sort of people! Help us, Dr Golf! Anyway, Cink didn't deliberately set out to wreck all our dreams, hopes and desires at Turnberry five years ago, so let's all wish him the best of luck today. God speed, Stewart! And he's parred the first. Tom Watson tees off at 8.51 local time, by the way. Oh Tom. I've worked myself up into a state now. I already need a lie down.
General Ike Eisenhower loved Augusta National. It provided a bolthole where he could kick back and relax, swing a round of golf or play a hand of bridge, away from peering eyes and the pressures of public life as a popular erstwhile army commander and, later, 34th President of the United States of America. Eisenhower was a sharp bridge player, but not so accomplished at golf. "Ben Hogan for president!" screamed one bumper sticker during Eisenhower's 1956 campaign for a second term at the White House. "If we're going to have a golfer, let's have a good one!" Ike's putting was so poor that long putts were routinely waved away as gimmes by opponents, so as not to embarrass the President. He hit short, and sliced often. Upon suffering a heart attack in 1955, his first thought was to use his medical mishap as the basis of negotiation to up his handicap to a more generous and competitive level.
Eisenhower's inveterate slice, and lack of length off the tee, invariably caused problems on 17, where a recalcitrant pine tree stubbornly stood on the left side of the fairway, 125 yards from the members' teebox. Poor old Ike found the tree with great regularity, his ball more often than not sent pinballing around in its branches, as back down the hole its dispatcher, the most powerful man in the western world, hopped around in impotent frustration. So at a governors meeting in 1956, Eisenhower stood up and requested the damn thing be cut down. Clifford Roberts, the club chairman, bodyswerved the task of telling the President he was talking through his hat by hastily adjourning the meeting. The pine immediately became known to one and all as the Eisenhower Tree, and remained standing proud and tall, regularly causing bother down the years to half-decent players such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. General Ike was, if nothing else, in good company.
But all things must pass. And in February just gone, a hail storm - Ike's ice? - passed over Augusta and battered viciously the limbs of the Eisenhower Tree. It could not be saved. A famous landmark and brooding presence on the course was gone. The tight 17th fairway is still intimidating enough for the loss of the tree not to make too much of a difference to the way the hole plays, but the loblolly's loss marks the end of an era. At a club where tradition is everything, that's a painful blow.
It's not the only major adjustment we all have to make at this year's Masters. The aforementioned Tiger Woods - who slipped on pine needles and twisted his knee when playing a shot under the Eisenhower Tree in 2011 and missed that year's US Open and Open as a result - is away getting his battered old back sorted. Thankfully his demise, unlike Dwight's wooden foe, is merely temporary, but this is the first Masters without the great man since 1994: like the suddenly naked 17th, that's going to take some getting used to. The four-time winner might not have pulled on a green jacket since 2005, but in the eight stagings since then, he's finished in the top four six times, and registered one other top-ten finish. Sunday just isn't going to be the same without him.
It'll still be special, though, not least because his absence leaves the field, like the 17th, just that little bit more open. The hottest favourites are last year's winner Adam Scott, three-time champ and Augusta specialist Phil Mickelson, the hot-again two-time major winner Rory McIlroy, the reigning US Open champion Justin Rose, and a gaggle of they've-surely-got-to-win-a-major-sometime wonders such as Jason Day, Matt Kuchar,
Sergio Garcia
, Dustin Johnson,
Lee Westwood
and Henrik Stenson. And we've not even mentioned major winners such as Keegan Bradley, Jason 'The Somnambulist' Dufner and Graeme McDowell; former Masters champs like Bubba Watson, Charl Schwartzel, Angel Cabrera and Zach Johnson; or the highly promising young bucks Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth and Harris English. What a tournament this promises to be.
All these good men, and many more, will be trotting out for the first round in this order:
- 7.40 am EDT, 12.40 pm BST: Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus (honorary starters)
- 7.45 am EDT, 12.45 pm BST: Stewart Cink, Tim Clark
- 7.56 am EDT, 12.56 pm BST: Ian Woosnam, John Huh, Kevin Stadler
- 8.07 am EDT, 1.07 pm BST: Ben Crenshaw, Y.E. Yang, Jonas Blixt
- 8.18 am EDT, 1.18 pm BST: Mark O'Meara, Steven Bowditch, Jordan Niebrugge (a)
- 8.29 am EDT, 1.29 pm BST: John Senden, Boo Weekley, David Lynn
- 8.40 am EDT, 1.40 pm BST: Craig Stadler, Scott Stallings, Martin Kaymer
- 8.51 am EDT, 1.51 pm BST: Tom Watson, Billy Horschel, Brendon de Jonge
- 9.02 am EDT, 2.02 pm BST: Mike Weir, Matt Every, Roberto Castro
- 9.13 am EDT, 2.13 pm BST: Angel Cabrera, Gary Woodland, Ian Poulter
- 9.24 am EDT, 2.24 pm BST: Fred Couples, Webb Simpson, Chang-woo Lee (a)
- 9.35 am EDT, 2.35 pm BST: Graeme McDowell, Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker
- 9.57 am EDT, 2.57 pm BST: Zach Johnson, K.J. Choi, Steve Stricker
- 10.08 am EDT, 3.08 pm BST: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Bill Haas, Matteo Manassero
- 10.19 am EDT, 3.19 pm BST: Hideki Matsuyama, Brandt Snedeker, Jamie Donaldson
- 10.30 am EDT, 3.30 pm BST: Charl Schwartzel, Jim Furyk, Thorbjorn Olesen
- 10.41 am EDT, 3.41 pm BST: Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, Matthew Fitzpatrick (a)
- 10.52 am EDT, 3.52 pm BST: Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy
- 11.03 am EDT, 4.03 pm BST: Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points
- 11.14 am EDT, 4.14 pm BST: Larry Mize, Branden Grace, Michael McCoy (a)
- 11.25 am EDT, 4.25 pm BST: Sandy Lyle, Matt Jones, Ken Duke
- 11.36 am EDT, 4.36 pm BST: Jose Maria Olazabal, Lucas Glover, Garrick Porteous (a)
- 11.47 am EDT, 4.47 pm BST: Nick Watney, Stephen Gallacher, Darren Clarke
- 12.09 pm EDT, 5.09 pm BST: Vijay Singh, Thomas Bjorn, Ryan Moore
- 12.20 pm EDT, 5.20 pm BST: Matt Kuchar, Louis Oosthuizen, Thongchai Jaidee
- 12.31 pm EDT, 5.31 pm BST: Trevor Immelman, Graham DeLaet, Oliver Goss (a)
- 12.42 pm EDT, 5.42 pm BST: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Derek Ernst, Sang-moon Bae
- 12.53 pm EDT, 5.53 pm BST: Bernhard Langer, Francesco Molinari, Chris Kirk
- 1.04 pm EDT, 6.04 pm BST: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson
- 1.15 pm EDT, 6.15 pm BST: Bubba Watson, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia
- 1.26 pm EDT, 6.26 pm BST: Joost Luiten, Marc Leishman, Hunter Mahan
- 1.37 pm EDT, 6.37 pm BST: Keegan Bradley, Victor Dubuisson, Peter Hanson
- 1.48 pm EDT, 6.48 pm BST: Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Justin Rose
- 1.59 pm EDT, 6.59 pm BST: Harris English, Lee Westwood, Russell Henley
And so the 78th Masters Tournament, my learned friends, my golfing buddies, my minute-by-minute pals, is on! I'll be with you from 2pm BST, which equates to 9am in dollars and cents. See you soon!


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Laptop Distribution
Optional Early Bird Pickup
This schedule is for students to pick up their laptops before the start of school. Early laptop pick up is optional. Students have been broken down into groups to eliminate the congestion of all students coming at once. Students must bring their $40 (WHS) or $30 (WMS) equipment fee, a signed Parent/Student Computer Use Agreement form and their printed TicketLeap ticket with them in order to receive their laptop. If payment was made online by credit card using MySchoolBucks.com, then the student only needs to bring the TicketLeap Ticket.
In order to alleviate a backup of students picking up their laptops, there is a limit of 20 tickets per time slot. Students should not show up to pick up their laptop at any time other than their ticketed time as their laptop will not be ready. Students in grades 7-12 have two opportunities across two weeks to pick up their laptops early. Otherwise, they can pick it up the first week of school.
Early Bird Pickup Dates* (Time slots available from 8:00 am – noon and 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm)
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8/16/16 & 8/23/16 (Pick up is in the high school in the library MML Lab)
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If you have any questions regarding laptop pickup, please email Marie Molinari in the technology department at email@example.com.
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How do we pay the laptop fees and what does my child need to bring to pick up their laptop?
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|Grades 6-8
|Grades 9-12
*If you do not have an existing MySchoolBucks account or need more information, please visit our MySchoolBucks page.
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Bloemfontein (South Africa): "The hunter has returned," a South African newspaper wrote on Sunday as the media in the country as well as former players went lyrical about Sachin Tendulkar's swashbuckling 155 on the opening day of the first Test against the South Africa on Saturday, a knock his skipper Saurav Ganguly described as "breathtaking".
|Former South African captain Kepler Wessels summed up the reaction in this country by saying that Tendulkar's knock was the best he had ever seen. "It is the most outstanding knock I have ever seen in my entire life," Wessels said. "It was fascinating to watch it happen." Radio sports commentator Imraan Munshin went a step further saying Tendulkar displayed "some of the finest batting ever seen in Test history". The return of the hunter, that cricket journalist Trevor Chesterfield wrote, alluded to the Indian maestro's return to Test cricket after missing the tour of Sri Lanka due to a foot injury. One newspaper, the 'Sunday Tribune' of Durban, carried its match-report under the headline "Tendulkar overtakes Bradman" which was more than just a reference to statistics i.e. Tendulkar surpassing Sir Don Bradman's 6,996 runs in Test cricket on his way to crossing the 7,000 run mark on Saturday. The media also waxed eloquent about the other hero of the day, Virender Sehwag who produced a scintillating century on debut. "He hit some glorious strokes as well. He has modelled his batting style on that of Tendulkar and has many of the mannerisms of his mentor," wrote another cricket journalist Stuart Hess. "Together the pair provided rich entertainment and seldom has one day's Test cricket provided such a high standard of stroke play," Hess wrote referring to the 220-run stand for the fifth wicket between Tendulkar and Sehwag, which pulled India out from a hopeless 68 for four. Headlines like "Slashin' Sachin turns the tide" and "Vintage Tendulkar makes SA suffer" were splashed on the sports pages of all the newspapers which described Tendulkar as the finest batsman in contemporary cricket. The newspapers carried full details of Tendulkar's Test record and compared him to such greats as Bradman, Sir Gary Sobers and India's own Sunil Gavaskar. Similar accolades came from Ganguly and Indian coach John Wright too. "Breathtaking," said Ganguly. "It is difficult to put it in words the quality of this innings." Wright echoed the feelings. "I have never seen a better Test knock in my life," he said. Former South African off spinner Pat Symcox said Tendulkar's extra-ordinary innings had made things very difficult for the home side. "After such an innings and looking at the wicket, I would say South Africa are in trouble." On the other hand, speedster Allan Donald who is not playing in this series because of an injury blamed his team's bowlers for not bowling properly while acknowledging the great knock of Tendulkar. "I wish our bowlers had bowled him in the right area," said Donald who is in the commentary team. "They gave him too much width." The bowling did deserve censure but former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu was convinced the attack was made to look ordinary by the magic of Tendulkar. "When he came to the crease, he realised quickly, it wasn't a wicket suited to drives. So he started steering it over the slips' heads - a shot devised on the spur of the moment and one which fetched him half his runs," he said. "There is this quality about this man - after all talent does what it can while genius does what must be done," Sidhu said in his inimitable style. Gavaskar couldn't agree with him more. "The noticeable aspect of this innings was the way he picked up the length and bounce of the wicket. If it wasn't so, he couldn't have played those shots over slips with this certainty," commented the Little Master. Another former India captain Ravi Shastri was also forced to go lyrical. "It was a sheer privilege to watch this magic - South Africans have been treated with a special Tendulkar sorcery," he said. Commentator Harsha Bhogle made a pertinent point on how Tendulkar quickly realised that the dismissal of Ganguly meant there were two debutants to follow and then the long tail of bowlers. "The remarkable aspect was how he changed the pace of his innings. He quickly sized up the situation and realised he needed to take the fight back into the South African camp." "It was one more proof of Tendulkar being as strong in skill as he is in mind," said Bhogle. Extras:
Sachin overtakes Bradman on all-time list
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Sport Lessons
Firearm safety classes offered by a certified NRA instructor.
Classes are offered all day from Monday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm. Class are offered on a one to one basis as well as in groups, class is approximately four hours, including range time.
This class meets and exceeds requirements for conceal carry permit
To schedule please call!