Lee Westwood, as he can do, stole the first act; whether or not he can steal the show remains to be seen. In firing a first round 67, five-under, the Englishman took a one shot first round lead over South African Louis Oosthuizen and Sweden’s Peter Hanson in the 76th edition of the US Masters at Augusta National Golf Club with a posse of international players in pursuit.
And, yet, as he chases a maiden Major title, it may be to men slightly further adrift that Westwood casts his glance. To Rory McIlroy. And to Tiger Woods.
McIlroy – a year on from his meltdown in the final round – experienced a roller-coaster ride but somehow managed to shoot a sub-par round, a 71, that matched the score posted earlier by Pádraig Harrington. Woods bogeyed his closing two holes for a 72.
In McIlroy’s case, it took a birdie-birdie finish that salvaged a round that threatened at times to get away from him.
Unlike a year ago when his world fell apart, this time he grinded out a score; and left the recorder’s hut with a pep in his step. Despite starting with a double-bogey six on the first, where he drove into the trees, McIlroy turned in 35 after back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth.
And, after suffering further setbacks with bogeys on the 11th and 13th, where he put his approach into Rae’s Creek, he salvaged his round late on: a 30-footer for birdie on the 17th was followed by a closing birdie on the 18th. “I didn’t feel like I had my best, to get under par was good,” said US Open champion McIlroy. The Ulsterman is still very much in the game.
Of that double bogey start, McIlroy observed: “It wasn’t the start that I would have liked to have got off to. But I steadied the ship and made three birdies on the front nine to turn under par. Making two birdies coming in there was nice to finish under par for the day. It only leaves me four off the lead, and still with 54 holes to play, that’s nothing.
“I felt like there was enough good shots in there to be positive over the next three days," he said. "I need to drive the ball in the fairway a little bit more, and I feel like if I can drive the ball in the fairway more, I can take advantage of that. That will be the key for me the next three days . . . still 71 holes left in the tournament after that, so there’s still a long way to go."
Westwood claimed the outright lead with a super round highlighted by a run of four successive birdies from the fifth on the front nine. He hit an eight-iron to four feet on the fifth; another to 10 on the sixth; a nine-iron to six feet on the seventh, and chipped stone dead on the eight.
“I had a run where I hit it close,” he said, “but I figured if I drive the ball well, which I generally do, then I’m going to have a chance to get it close to flags and from there, it’s just an issue of how many putts I hole.”
Although he has yet to win a Major, Westwood – runner-up to Phil Mickelson here two years ago – is up to the challenge.
“I have been in this position a lot recently, in contention (in Majors). I’ve obviously been there or thereabouts. And I’ve done a lot of fitness work through winter and start of this year to strengthen up. This is a demanding golf course. You’re concentrating all the time. It’s mentally draining and physically draining,” said Westwood.
While Harrington and McIlroy on 71 led the Irish challenge, Daren Clarke overcame a groin strain to shoot 73 but Graeme McDowell struggled to a 75.
“It wasn’t very good," admitted McDowell. "I just don’t play well around this golf course. It doesn’t set up well for me. I’m not driving it well enough. I’m short with not enough right to left shape. It was tough today. The course played long and the pins were tricky and I just hit it in all the wrong places all day. I paid the price. I got off to a bit of a sloppy start with a bogey on one and a double on four and I was battling from there."
It was a day of mixed blessings, as Sweden’s Henrik Stenson – more than anyone – could testify. For a large portion of the day, Stenson, with his dutiful caddie Jude O’Reilly from Sligo by his side, had seemed set to celebrate his 36th birthday in some style.
As he stood on the 18th tee, he owned the lead in the championship. Then, it all went wrong. Horribly wrong. And Stenson ran up a quadruple bogey eight that saw him slide from the top to sign for a 71, still respectable, but some way removed from what might have been.
Oh Henrik, what happened?
“I hit it way left, a low hook. The ball was playable in the bushes, so I went in there and got a small gap and didn’t manage to get it out. It gets stuck, and it’s in a pretty worn spot in the pine needles where everybody has walked and carved it up in the fairway.”
The recovery was low and short, but at least he had a shot – his fourth – to the green from the fairway.
Murphy’s Law came into play. What could go wrong, did go wrong. He overhit his wedge approach over the green into the crowds and took another four to get down.
“The fifth shot that I played is a foot from being stiff really. Small margins. Finishing with an eight? I don’t think I’ve ever done that before,” said the Swede.
Collated first round scores in The Masters, Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia, United States of America. (USA unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72):
67Lee Westwood (Eng)
68Peter Hanson (Swe), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
69Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ben Crane, Jason Dufner, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Paul Lawrie (Sco), Bubba Watson
70Vijay Singh (Fij), Scott Stallings, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson
71Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Ross Fisher (Eng), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar, Stewart Cink, Kevin Chappell, Kevin Na, Keegan Bradley, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Pádraig Harrington (Irl),Henrik Stenson (Swe)
72Bernhard Langer (Ger), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Tiger Woods, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Fred Couples, Webb Simpson, Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Bill Haas, Justin Rose (Eng), Mike Weir (Can), Ian Poulter (Eng), Jonathan Byrd, Brandt Snedeker
73David Toms, Gary Woodland, Harrison Frazar, Darren Clarke (NIrl), Sean O'Hair, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Bo Van Pelt, Tim Clark (Rsa), Scott Verplank, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
74Corbin Mills, John Senden (Aus), Kelly Kraft, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa)
75 Graeme McDowell (NIrl),Kyle Stanley, Adam Scott (Aus), Lucas Glover, Ryan Palmer, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Luke Donald (Eng), Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
76Jason Day (Aus), Anders Hansen (Den), Ben Crenshaw, Mark Wilson, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Paul Casey (Eng), Brendan Steele, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Martin Laird (Sco), Larry Mize
77Robert Garrigus, K J Choi (Kor), Tom Watson, Ian Woosnam (Wal), Bryden Macpherson (Aus)
78Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Simon Dyson (Eng), Alvaro Quiros (Spa)
79Johnson Wagner, Chez Reavie
81Randal Lewis, Craig Stadler
86Sandy Lyle (Sco)
WD: Mark O'Meara
