AUGUSTA, GA (SNN-TV) – The 87th Masters Tournament began play today in Augusta, as the world’s best golfers all strive for the coveted green jacket.
Jon Rahm opened with a four-putt double bogey, then followed with seven birdies and an eagle to finish at 7-under 65 to join Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka atop a leaderboard filled with red numbers and the ominous “weather warning” signs that figure to play a big role this week at the Masters. Rahm’s 65 was the lowest score in Masters history by anyone who started with a double bogey.
Rahm only a month ago was playing so well he looked unstoppable — three wins on the PGA Tour over his first five starts, all against strong fields. And then he dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in no time as Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy surged. But the Spaniard is optimistic moving forward after Day one.
“I’m mostly super happy with what I’ve done today, right. I didn’t expect to hit a great 3-wood, a good second shot and four-putt the first hole, but to overcome that and shoot 9-under on the next 17 holes was something to be proud of. With that said, I’m really happy I started the way I did and gave myself a solid start to the week.” – Jon Rahm
A bad forecast has been talked about almost as much as how 18 players from LIV Golf would perform over 72 holes. One of those players, Brooks Koepka, had two birdies in his opening three holes and finished with back-to-back birdies to cap off his 65.
“Love to finish with two birdies like that. Just kind of hopefully ride that into tomorrow. You know, putting good, driving it well, just kind of build off all those things, and get myself, you know, in contention with nine to go on Sunday, that’s the whole goal.” – Brooks Koepka
With Rahm, Koepka and Hovland tied for the lead, missing from the red numbers was Tiger Woods, who has never missed the cut as a pro in the Masters and will have some work to do if he wants to keep that streak alive. He made only one birdie over 14 holes, but had a late spark until finishing with a bogey for a 74.
“I felt like I drove it good. I just didn’t do the job I need to do to get the ball close. Today was the opportune time to get the ball — get the round under par, and I didn’t do that today. Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it. This is going to be an interesting finish to the tournament with the weather coming in. If I can just kind of hang in there, maybe kind of inch my way back, hopefully it will be positive towards the end.” – Tiger Woods
With tee-times already moved up 30 minutes due to incoming weather, Koepka will tee off the earliest of the three leaders, at 8:18am, with Hovland teeing off alongside Tiger at 12:54pm, and Rahm heads out in the next to last group of the day at 1:18pm.
