By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AUGUSTA, GA — Alvaro Quiros bounced into the press room with a huge grin on his face.
His eyes were dancing as he scanned the room, glanced at the leaderboard and heard — for, oh, the kajillionth time in the last 15 minutes — that he had just polished off his best round at Augusta National. Best by 10 shots.
Quiros
As in a 7-under-par 65, which just happened to slide him into a tie for the 18-hole lead with Rory McIlroy.
“I was talking with my caddie about it, walking the 18th hole,” he said. “It looks like I was playing in the Sunday afternoon in the leading group. I mean, it was a very nice feeling. Because normally, I’m watching this situation through the TV sitting on my sofa.”
He paused while everyone laughed. “But it was a very special moment I have to recognize.”
Special? Try fabulous. Try amazing. Try unbelievable.
Wasn’t this the same guy who, when asked if he could follow in Seve Ballesteros’ footsteps and win here, he replied, “Seve had the hands of an artist while I have the hands of a bricklayer?” The guy who relies on bombs off the tee because “everybody knows I’m not the most skillful guy with a 58 in the hands.”
He smiled. “At the opposite situation, that’s Seve. He was obviously one of the best ones in general, but especially with the short game.”
The engaging, gregarious and highly-entertaining Quiros had a little bit of everything Thursday afternoon. Length off the tee; soft shots around the greens. The ability to escape tough situations. Touch with the putter. Brilliant quips and perfect timing on their delivery.
And, oh, a new attitude.
Which explains how his previous Masters rounds — 78-75 in 2009 and 75-75 in 2010 — were a distant memory.
“The two previous years, I came to the Masters thinking that I can play well, shoot low,” said Quiros, who won the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year. ” And this one was my main mistake. My main mistake, because it’s a golf course ‑‑ it’s too tough. Every single situation has to be measured. I mean, the risk, the reward; and today, I was very happy making pars. This is why probably shoot 65.
“If I push myself to shoot 65 from the first tee, I tell you, probably it will be the same, 75, 76, like the previous years.”
Thursday he enjoyed the moment. And the pairing with Gary Woodland and Jhonattan Vegas. All are bombers. Quiros birdied the last two holes to get to 7-under; Woodland the last four to get to 3-under. He also got credit for an assist at 17.
“Just before me, Gary Woodland holed the same putt almost on the same line, so I just have to follow the leader,” Quiros grinned. “Follow the line.”
Quiros couldn’t have asked for a better pairing or a better first-tournament round with new caddie Gareth Bryn Lord, who used to caddie for Robert Karlsson. They chattered all day, which was by design.
“He’s a completely new caddie,” Quiros said. “So we have to talk a lot of things. We need to improve. We need to figure out how we are going to do it. And this is why we are talking as much as you see me. And at the same time, when you are playing well, everything is happiness.”
Why the change? He grinned again.
“I changed ‑‑ well, I know that it’s difficult to believe ‑‑ well, no, it’s not difficult,” he said. “Somebody who knows about golf will understand perfectly.
“But it’s like in soccer, or in football: When a team is playing bad, you cannot change the 22 players. The only thing that you can change is the coach, isn’t it? ”
He paused again for the chuckles. Impeccable delivery and timing, huh?
” In my case, it’s the same,” he said. “You know, I cannot change myself. Well, I’m trying to change myself but it doesn’t work.
So probably the only decent way I can change the cut is I change something.”
As for the next few days?
“As I said, 65 is my best score by 10 shots, as the people said every single moment,” he said, delivering yet another perfect line.
“But my target will still be the same. Tomorrow, a drive on the first hole and make the cut. I will be very pleased to make my cut in my third appearance in the Masters.”
Click here to view Quiros’ scorecard
Mickelson’s round OK, but leaves work
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A year ago, Phil Mickelson hit what turned out to be the defining shot of his third Masters victory when he threaded a 6-iron between two pine trees and onto the green at the par-5 13th hole on Sunday.
He ended up making birdie, not eagle, but no matter. It was vintage Mickelson and only served to add to the wildly popular lefthander’s lore.
Mickelson
When Mickelson came to the 13th tee on Thursday in the first round of his title defense, his drive went left instead of right. He found himself waist-deep in the azaleas — abundant in hues that nearly matched the color of his pinkish-maroon shirt — but he still managed to punch out and make a solid par.
In a way, that hole came to define Mickelson’s first round of 2011, too.
The 70 he posted was serviceable, even if it left the defending champ, who had shot 16 under last weekend on the way to victory at the Shell Houston Open, somewhat disappointed. He’s five strokes off the lead held by Alvaro Quiros and Rory McIlroy.
“It’s okay, just okay,” Mickelson said. “I didn’t shoot myself out of it but I didn’t make up ground on the field the way I wanted to, so I’ve got to go do it tomorrow.”
Mickelson only hit four fairways — which left him dead last in that category among the field of 99. But he managed to find 12 greens in regulation and took 29 putts. He made three birdies and didn’t drop a shot to par until the final hole.
“I missed it in spots where I could get up and down, in spots that I knew the chip, I had a good angle, and that’s why I was disappointed on 18,” Mickelson said. “I tried to miss it left, I’m shooting right up the pin and it was a pretty easy shot and I didn’t get it up and down.
“But I scrambled well today to stay in, but I also let four or five good birdie opportunities slide. I’m going to have to capitalize on those opportunities tomorrow if I’m going to go low.”
Click here to view Mickelson’s scorecard
A real pain in the neck
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Padraig Harrington never got warmed up Thursday morning.
In fact, he almost didn’t make it to the first tee.
Harrington was swinging left-handed to loosen up when he felt the pain. He left range to get his neck worked on, made it to the tee and shot 77.
Harrington
“It just kind of clicked and I’m not able to move to my right,” he said. “… I went back in, I didn’t get a warm‑up really at all. I spent about two minutes on the putting green and I really couldn’t do my warm‑up at all because I had to get back out and get treatment and all that.”
He didn’t take any painkillers.
“I was hoping it would go away, it actually got worse on the course,” said the three-time major champ. “Maybe I should have taken the pain killers. There you go. It didn’t cross my mind.
“But I couldn’t keep my head in position at impact. I had to come up on all my shots. And when you’re doing that you can hit it right and left.”
Harrington did birdie the fifth to get to 1 under but bogeyed the sixth and double-bogeyed the seven to jump to 2 over at the turn. He bogeyed his way around Amen Corner, birdied Nos. 15 and 16, then doubled the 18th.
He knows it will take a miracle to make the cut.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You know, it’s tough when you can’t hit the shots, yeah. It would be just hard enough to make up the numbers, but as it is, you know, we’ll see how it goes.”
This isn’t the first time he’s been troubled with neck pain. It started at the 2002 PGA at Hazeltine.
“It’s very much under control now,” he said. ” I do a lot of work on it. And it doesn’t give me too much trouble during the year. But it’s always going to happen. You know, sometimes. And I would love to tell you that there’s more I could do, let’s say, aside from cutting my head off.”
But there isn’t. And, no, withdrawing wasn’t an option.
“I wouldn’t,” he said. “That’s just my nature. I would always have a go. But it wasn’t much fun.”
The toughest thing? He felt like he could contend this year.
“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “I prepared very well, I was in good form, but it was not to be. Such is life.”
Click here to view Harrington’s scorecard
Choi in contention again at Augusta
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Thanks to five birdies over his final six holes, K.J. Choi is exactly where he was a year ago at this time, only it’s the first round and not the last.
Choi, who tied for fourth last year following a final-round 69, opened this year’s Masters with a 67 that has him just two shots off the pace of Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros.
One reason why Choi, who was also third in 2004 and tied for 15th in 2003, has had success here is because Augusta National reminds him a lot of Seoul Country Club, where he won the 1999 Korean Open. Both venues have tall pine trees and the greens are firm and the winds gusty.
“I feel comfortable because I know where to hit the ball on to the green and I know where to attack the fairways,” said Choi, who had seven birdies on the day. “The fact that there are so many galleries here on both sides of the hole, it really enables me to focus. It’s easy to set the target.”
One other thing that might help Choi this week: Putting three hybrids in the bag for this tournament.
Choi said it really didn’t help him much on Thursday because he got off to a slow start, but once he gets used to them they should make a difference.
“With any new club and any new routine you pick up, you need at least three weeks to get accustomed to it,” Choi said. “It’s been two weeks since I’ve put the clubs in the bag.
“I just need to stay patient and keep using the clubs and I think it will be good from there on.”
Click here to view Choi’s scorecard
Almost a great round
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
AUGUSTA, Ga. — He was two holes from a great round. But Y.E. Yang just couldn’t hang on.
The 2009 PGA champion bogeyed the last two holes to fall out of what would have been a share of the first round lead. Instead, he finds himself in an all-Korean share of second with K.J. Choi going into the second round.
Yang
Yang was 4 under on the front nine and, after dropping a shot at No. 10, he eagled the 13th to get to 5 under, then birdied the 15th — two putts from 12 feet — and No. 16 — with another 12-footer — to tie Rory McIlroy.
“I saw myself in the leaderboard tied with the leader,” he said. “I guess I got a little bit overzealous in the last two holes.”
On No. 17, he drove left into the trees, hit a hybrid into the bunker and missed the par putt.
“It’s a bit disappointing to finish off two bogeys in a row, and go back down to behind the leader,” he said, ” but at the same time still a lot of golf left, and it’s been an overall good experience so far and I hope that it doesn’t end prematurely. I hope it goes along for three more days.”
As for two Korean players tied near the top?
“It’s a very good course for Koreans, for us,” he said. ” It’s atypical of a Korean course, so if you’re on a good day, I think that it’s to our advantage, really, this course is.
“So, and it definitely builds on the confidence and the momentum. Although it’s a year apart, still, coming over here and putting on a good performance in one of the best arenas possible I think it only builds upon your confidence.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t dwindle and I can ride upon it for three more days.”
Click here to view Yang’s scorecard
Immelman in familiar surroundings
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
AUGUSTA, Ga. — There’s something about Augusta National that brings out the best in Trevor Immelman.
The man who won the 2008 Masters spent the better part of the next two seasons nursing an injury to his left wrist that required surgery in October of 2009. In each year, though, the South African posted his second-best finish of the season at Augusta National — a tie for 20th in his title defense and joint 14th in 2010.
Immelman
So it should come as no surprise to see Immelman on the leaderboard again after Thursday’s first round of the 75th Masters. Immelman’s 69 left him in a tie for seventh, four strokes off the lead held by Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros.
Immelman got things off to a good start Thursday with a birdie on the first hole. But he gave that back with a bogey at No. 6 and was still even par when he made the turn after he followed a birdie at the eighth with another dropped shot at the ninth.
Everything changed, though, on the back nine as Immelman started to hit his stride. He eagled the 15th with a driver and 5-wood to 6 feet, then ended the round the way it started with a birdie at the difficult 18th.
“I started off a little bit shaky maybe is the right word,” Immelman said. “(I) was kind of just missing my shots, wasn’t really committing very well, but my short game, really, helped me on the front side.
“And then from about 10 onward I started feeling a little bit more comfortable and hitting some shots out of the middle, and then I made a great 3 on 15. And then I had three putts in a row inside 10 feet the last three holes.
“All in all very pleased with my round.”
And as for the wrist injury? Immelman is finally feeling no pain — literally, as well as figuratively — and it’s showing in his performance on the golf course.
Immelman has only missed one cut this year, and it came in his 2011 debut in Phoenix. Since then, the two-time PGA TOUR champ has cashed five straight paychecks and came to Augusta on the heels of his best finish of the season, a tie for 12th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“My wrist is all the way back,” Immelman said. “I would say this year, from about November, December last year, I didn’t have to worry about it as much, and I could go ahead and start practicing stuff I wanted to practice. At that point it just became a matter of me getting in the right practice and trying to get rid of all the bad habits I got into playing injured.
“So that’s been a process, and it’s been pretty good on the range. And I’ve started taking it better to the golf course. You know, every week seems to be getting a little bit better, but I’ve still got a long way to go to get back to where I was.”
Click here to view Immelman’s scorecard
Leaderboard update: Yang in with 67
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
Snedeker pleased with position, life
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
AUGUSTA, GA. — With three top-10s in eight starts this season, Brandt Snedeker thinks he’s playing the best golf of his career right now.
He doesn’t attribute it to a swing change, though. He hasn’t altered his putting stroke either.
Snedeker
Actually, Snedeker will tell you he’s simply more comfortable in his own skin these days. And a big reason is that he became a father for the first time on March 3 when his wife Mandy delivered the couple’s daughter, Lily.
“I feel great,” Snedeker said. “… I feel really comfortable with where I am in my life. I also have a newborn at home, so that’s exciting. Gives me something else to focus on instead of my golf game so much, so I don’t live and die by Thursdays and Fridays anymore, which is nice.
“Just having a lot more fun with it, so I feel like this is going to be a really good year.”
Snedeker certainly got off to a good start at the Masters on Thursday as he made four birdies and dropped just one shot to par. His 69, which was his third round in the 60s in 11 attempts at Augusta National, left him tied for sixth, four strokes off the lead.
“I drove it really good today and made a few putts here and there,” Snedeker said. “I missed a few short ones which kind of frustrates me because I played really well from tee to green. But overall you can’t complain with that opening round, and I’m going to go home and watch it on TV.”
Snedeker has success at Augusta National to drawn upon after tying for third in 2008. He started the final round alone in second, two strokes off the pace being set by Trevor Immelman, but Snedeker’s bid to catch the South African vanished in a 77 that Sunday.
On Thursday, though, the Huck Finn lookalike was extremely solid as he played in the fourth group off the tee. He hit 15 of 18 greens and 12 of 14 fairways while taking 32 putts.
“It was out there for you,” said Snedeker, who answered his only bogey by reeling off three straight birdies starting at No. 13. “It was soft this morning. You were able to go out there and hit a hybrid into 15. It rolled to about four feet. That’s not going to happen later on in the week,
“So I enjoyed the nice, soft conditions and had a bunch of good looks. The greens are rolling perfect. They’re not too crazy quick yet. But I’m sure this afternoon they’ll be moving. Took advantage of a good morning and a good tee time.”
Click here to view Snedeker’s scorecard
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent AUGUSTA, GA — Alvaro Quiros bounced into the press room with a huge grin on his face. His eyes were dancing as he scanned the room, glanced at the leaderboard and heard — for, oh, the kajillionth time in the last 15 minutes — that he had just polished off …
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Tour Report: Fabulous day for Quiros (PGATOUR.com)