Masters diary: Irish amateur Matt McClean makes dream start before fading

When Matt McClean looked up at the scoreboard after birdieing the fourth hole to go two-under-par, he saw he was on top alone. “I was saying, ‘I would take a screenshot of the leaderboard right there, leading the Masters’,” he recalled.

By the time the 29-year-old Belfast optometrist came to sign his scorecard, he had slipped down the field and ultimately put his signature to an opening round 77 that has left a mountain to climb if he is to make the 36-holes cut.

“To be disappointed with 5-over in the first round is probably the sign of I actually played pretty well, I played much better than that ... it’s more positives probably than negatives. The 5-over probably looks worse than how I feel about it,” said McClean, who earned his place in the field after winning last year’s US Mid-Amateur Championship which also earns him a spot in the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club in June.

He added: “I felt like I could have got close to level out there today and that would have been a good round for me. I don’t know what the cut’s going to be. I’ll probably not look at it, but I’ll just try to shoot as low as I can tomorrow.”

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Further down the line, his aim is to make the Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team for the match against the United States at St Andrews. “It was a good sort of good stepping stone today I think for the rest of the year,” said McClean who, although qualified as an optometrist, is effectively a full-time amateur golfer at present.

Poignant farewell from caddie Jackson

Saying goodbye ain’t easy, and while Sandy Lyle and Larry Mize confirmed this would be their last Masters as participants, an even more poignant farewell came from long-time caddie Carl Jackson.

Jackson caddied in a record 54 Masters but his connection with the famed club goes back to the days when, as a 14-year-old, he was first employed here.

Among those to pay tribute to the now 76-year-old was Ben Crenshaw, who had Jackson on his bag for wins in 1984 and 1995: “We’ve experienced it all. We had great triumphs and our share of disasters but we walked every step together,” said Gentle Ben.

Jackson, indeed, was fortunate to make it to Augusta for his goodbye moment. He was involved in a car crash en route from his home in Arkansas when his car rear-ended a pickup truck outside Atlanta. “God was in that car with me. I’ve made 50 trips from other states since leaving Augusta, never had a flat tyre, broken pipe, anything.”

[ ‘A pretty good round of golf’ - Shane Lowry off to a strong start at the Masters ]

Age but a number for Langer

Age is but a number when it comes to Bernhard Langer, the 65-year-old German who has dominated the Champions Tour for the past decade and a half and who continues to remain competitive while other old-timers politely decline their invitations to play.

Langer was officially the oldest player to tee-up in this 87th edition of the Masters, marking his 40th appearance in the championship which he won twice, in 1985 and 1993. He first played in 1982.

“It’s hard to believe how time flies when you’re having fun. When you look around, everyone’s moving on, right? We’re all getting older. It’s hard to believe it has been that long but it’s great, it is fun,” said Langer. “I will definitely come back next year but I don’t know how many more.”

By the numbers

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Two players withdrew from the tournament: one, Kevin Na, managed to complete nine holes before withdrawing due to illness; another, Will Zalatoris, was forced to withdraw before his first round due to the recurrence of a back injury.

Quote-Unquote

“I just didn’t do the ... most of the guys are going low. This was the day to do it. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little better, a little bit sharper. With the weather coming in, if I can just hang in there, maybe inch my way back” – Tiger Woods after struggling to an opening round 74.

Golfing gods turn the Power down

The golfing gods giveth and taketh, as Séamus Power discovered when suffering a sting in the tail at the end of his round.

Buoyed by those back-to-back holes-in-one in the Par 3 competition on the eve of the tournament, Power was motoring along very nicely – three-under on his card through 16 holes – until suffering late speed bumps.

A double-bogey six on the 17th was followed by another double-bogey six on the 18th to turn his round in the wrong direction. From three-under to one-over in little more than half an hour.

After signing for a 73, Power – who admitted he needed to sort out his driving which had led to those late dropped shots – said: “I just kind of have to hit it a little bit better. The putter feels great which is always a nice feeling, you always feel like you have a chance. So, I think just continue to do that and just hit a few better drives.”