AUGUSTA, Ga. – Thanks to a birdie on the par-5 15th, Korea’s Y.E. Yang has closed to within one stroke of clubhouse leader Rory McIlroy and has three holes left to at least grab a share of the first-round lead.
Meanwhile, long-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros has moved to 4 under through 10 holes and still has two par-5 holes to play. Quiros is playing in the last group of the day.
Yang and Quiros appear to be the only two players who might be able to catch McIlroy, who opened with a 7-under 65.
Matt Kuchar shot a solid 4-under 68 and again is right in the thick of things, just like he has been all season on the PGA TOUR.
Tiger Woods opened with a 1-under 71 while defending champion Phil Mickelson is 1 under through 10 holes.
MASTERS, ROUND 1: Leaderboard
Tiger opens with a 1-under 71
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Only once in his 16 previous starts in the Masters has Tiger Woods managed to break 70. That happened last year when he opened with a 68, eventually finishing tied for fourth.
In the four years in which he won the Masters, Woods has shot 70 three times and 74 the other time.
Woods
So shooting a 1-under 71 in Thursday’s first round left Woods feeling fairly pleased with his position, even with Rory McIlroy posting a 7-under 65 earlier in the day.
“I’m right there in the ballgame,” Woods said. “I’m only six back.”
Woods was a bogey-free 1 under at the turn, but he dropped consecutive strokes to par at Nos. 10 (when he three-putted) and 11.
He quickly bounced back, though, making a nice par-saving putt at No. 12 to get up-and-down, then two-putting for birdie at the par-5 13th (his only birdie on a par-5 hole all day) and followed with another birdie at the par-4 14th.
“It was nice to make that putt at 12 and get something going,” he said.
Woods needed 30 putts to complete his round, but he was happy with the way he was rolling the ball.
“I hit a lot of beautiful putts,” he said. “They were just skirting the edge. Hopefully, they’ll start to go in.”
They’ll need to if he wants to make the kind of move he’s made before at Augusta National. In his four wins, he’s produced second-round scores of 66, 66, 69 and 66.
He’ll also need to hope that McIlroy cools off.
“I’d rather be where Rory’s at,” Woods said. “But there’s a long way to go. We’ve got a long grind ahead of us.”