Tight at the top at Augusta National

Golf: The portents of doom about hellish thunderstorms proved to be off the mark, which suited Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen…

Golf:The portents of doom about hellish thunderstorms proved to be off the mark, which suited Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen just fine. In finishing with back-to-back birdies, the latter briefly claimed the clubhouse lead in the 76th edition of the US Masters at Augusta National but the Englishman went one better wtih a card that showed seven birdies.

Proof, then, that it's not all about Rory and Tiger.

"Yeah, I played very solidly," said Westwood, who hit 16 from 18 greens in regulation. "I didn't really hit many bad shots. I missed a short one on four, got a bogey there and I had a bogey at 10 because there was mud on the ball."

The hole looked "bigger than it has for a while", added a grinning Westwood.

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The field has rarely, if ever, been deeper. A number of contenders – including early starter Pádraig Harrington (71) – manoeuvred into contention on a day when both McIlroy and Woods struggled but showed sufficient instincts to remain in the battle.

World number one Luke Donald signed for a 75 after some confusion over the marking of his card was cleared up.

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.

Others suffered too, among them Phil Mickelson who ran up a triple bogey seven on the 10th while Graeme McDowell described his play as “rubbish” after a 75. Darren Clarke was one over through 14, while Rory McIlroy – who started with a double bogey – was one over through 13 holes.

Paul Lawrie – a 43-year-old Scot who has enjoyed a resurgence in his career in the past year – produced an opening round 69, three-under-par, that reminded us of past deeds.

Ever since his last appearance here in 2004, when his exemption for his 1999 British Open win at Carnoustie ran out, Lawrie’s letterbox had failed to receive an invite to the season’s first Major. Up until this year, that is. A revival in his career, which brought Lawire back into the elite top-50 in the world rankings, was rewarded with a ticket to Augusta. And he responded in a fashion of a man who had belonged here all along.

On a day which started with beautiful sunshine and just sufficient wind to make players think twice about their shots, but with a weather forecast of “severe thunderstorms” to keep players on their toes and to approach shots with a keen edge, Lawrie grabbed the early clubhouse lead in a round that featured two eagles – at the 13th and 15th holes – to put him back into contention in a Major.

Miguel Angel Jimenez matched Lawrie’s 69, as the veteran Spaniard outshone his playing mate Tiger Woods – who opened with a 72 – by three shots. Italian Francesco Molinari added a further European flavour to the top, when he joined them on 69 until eclipsed by Oosthuizen.

Lawrie, who claimed a first tour win in nine years when he took the Andalucian Open last year and who has since claimed this season’s Qatar Masters title, attributes much of his renewed vigour for the game to the influence of his teenage sons, Michael and Craig. When it got to the stage where they were threatening to beat him, the dad upped his game.

“I put more into it now than I ever did; meaning that I work on the right things,” explained Lawrie of his changed philosophy. “I do a lot of short game at home. We have got a green at the back of the house that me and the boys spend hours up there. I certainly practice and do the right things more now than I ever used to.

“I used to kind of hit a lot of balls. I would hit sort of 500, 600, 700 balls a day. That’s not the way you’re going to be a better player. The way to be a better player is to spend three hours a day chipping and putting, and working on the mental side at night,” said Lawrie.

The highlights of his round came on the homeward run, with eagles at the 13th and 15th holes. On the 13th, he had 240 yards to the pin and hit a rescue club from the right rough and, on the 15th, where he was slightly blocked out by the trees, he again took the rescue club out of the bag and drew it to the rough beside a greenside bunker. He chipped in. Easy!

Oosthuizen grabbed the clubhouse lead with a birdie-birdie finish for a 68 as he took a first steps towards emulating his friend and compatriot Charl Schwartzel as champion.

“We play together a lot, and I think it’s more just watching videos of him winning over and over and seeing the way he handled himself under the pressure . . . you play every week to put yourself in a position on the back nine on

the Sunday to win, so that’s the big aim, getting to number 12, 13 on Sunday and maybe having a chance to win,” said the 2010 British Open champion, before a birdie at 17 edged Westwood to the top of the pile.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times