AUGUSTA, Ga. — Thanks to three birdies in a four-hole stretch in the middle of the back nine, Y.E. Yang is just two shots back of the lead after an opening-round 67 Thursday.
Yang posted birdies on Nos. 13, 15 and 16 and finished the day with seven birdies in all. He also matched his career-low score here — he shot 67 in the opening round last year before finishing in a tie for eighth, which was also his best finish in the Masters.
That was also the only other time Yang broke 70 in 10 previous rounds at Augusta National.
The only other player on the course with a chance to catch Rory McIlroy is Alvaro Quiros. He’s 5 under with three holes to play. He’s made six birdies and one bogey so far.
Meanwhile, Ricky Barnes is three shots back, along with Matt Kuchar, after just finishing off a 68. Eight others are currently at 3 under with play winding down.
Kaymer shoots 78, puts No. 1 in play
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Martin Kaymer didn’t exactly play like the No. 1 golfer in the world on Thursday during the first round of the 75th Masters Tournament.
Kaymer
The 26-year-old German shot 78 — his highest round ever at Augusta National. So suddenly the perplexed Kaymer is in danger of missing his fourth straight cut at the Masters.
In fact, only four players shot higher than the enormously talented German did, and two of those play the Champions Tour.
“For me it was very difficult,” he said. “Every day that I played here was a tough day so far. So, yeah, … I was disappointed, because there’s some golf courses that suit you and some they just don’t.”
Should Kaymer make another early exit, there are plenty of players waiting in the wings to take over the No. 1 spot in the world. In fact, five could end Kaymer’s reign at six weeks come Sunday and here are the scenarios.
* Lee Westwood needs to win.
* Phil Mickelson needs to win and have Kaymer finish lower than solo second.
* Luke Donald has to win and have Westwood finish lower than solo second and Kaymer finish outside the top three.
* Graeme McDowell needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 55 or miss the cut.
* Tiger Woods needs to win and have Mickelson finish lower than solo second, Westwood finish outside the top four and Kaymer finish outside the top 18.
Kaymer, who has won five times in the last 15 months – including the PGA Championship, is at a loss to explain his lack of success at Augusta National.
He decided to change his preparation this year – taking the last two weeks off. Kaymer spent the first back on the practice range back home in Scottsdale and the second in the Augusta area playing golf with his father and his brother.
Still, the frustration continued. In seven rounds now at Augusta National, Kaymer has only broken par once and he has never shot in the 60s.
“I was trying to hit good golf shots today and not playing very well,” Kaymer said. “My putting was okay, I think my short game was definitely better than the last three, four, years, but I just didn’t hit the ball as good as the last two or three years ago.”
So what’s next for the frustrated Kaymer? To be honest, he’s not really sure. But he might see if he could pick the brain of his countryman Bernhard Langer, who has won two Masters.
“There’s not really a game plan,” Kaymer said when asked about Friday’s second round. “I think that I don’t really know how to play the golf course. I don’t know, I can think about another hour or hour and a half or two hours, and I just don’t really find a solution.
“I think that maybe I got to sit down with Bernhard Langer later and ask him. … I think that I can only get good advice from him.”
Kuchar keeps the hot hand going
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
AUGUSTA, Ga. — In his first eight starts on the PGA TOUR this season, Matt Kuchar has six top-10 finishes. While he hasn’t yet won an event in 2011, no other player has put himself in contention more times through the first three months.
Kuchar
So anybody surprised that Kuchar went out Thursday in the first round of the Masters and shot a 4-under 68 to put his name on the front page of the leaderboard … again?
Certainly, Kuchar isn’t.
“I feel like that’s the way my golf game has gone,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I’ve put in great word with (coach) Chris O’Connell and he’s made me a better, more consistent player.
“I feel like I don’t have to go to the range and hope I can find it. I feel like I can, most of the time, know where it is and know where the ball is going. It’s a great feeling.”
Kuchar started quickly on Thursday, finding himself 4 under through eight holes. A bogey at the ninth derailed his momentum but he put together consecutive birdies at the 14th and 15th holes before finding himself between clubs on the par-3 16th and guessing wrong on the wind.
Still, so solid was Kuchar that he “didn’t feel like I was doing a whole lot of grinding; it felt like a lot of good opportunities,” he said.
A Kuchar win at Augusta would be a popular one, since he was a star golfer at Georgia Tech, the alma mater of Bobby Jones.
But in four previous Masters appearances, Kuchar has never finished inside the top 20. His 68 on Thursday was just the second time in 15 career rounds at Augusta National that he’s broken 70.
Still, he’s never had quite the hot hand as he does now. He finds himself three shots behind Rory McIlroy.
“I’m really pleased with where I finished,” he said. “It’s a great spot. Played solid golf. Rory is 7 under — that’s fantastic.
“The conditions were there. … If ever you could shoot a good score, it would be today. But 7 under is pretty amazing.”
So would a seventh top-10 finish be for Kuchar this season. Of course, a win would be better.
Click here for Kuchar’s scorecard
“Out of body experience” slows Wilson
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AUGUSTA, GA — It was a four-hole stretch like no other.
A little run of craziness that took a while for FedExCup points leader Mark Wilson to get out of his system.
There was that four-putt double bogey at Augusta National’s eighth hole. Then the tree he hit off the tee at the ninth hole. Another bad drive and a mud ball at the 10th and an errant drive at No. 11, too.
Wilson
So after making par on his first seven holes, Wilson suddenly found himself 5 over after 11 in the first round of his first Masters.
“Just kind of had an out-of-body experience for me from 8 to 11, that kind of derailed me,” Wilson said. “But I hung in there.
” …I played really good coming in there, so … I was just surprised what I did on 8. So normally I was able to put that behind me and I didn’t do a good job of that today.