Korea’s Sungjae Im took the lead after the first round with a score of 5 below par of 67. Directly behind him at 4 under par of 68 was Australia’s Cameron Smith.
Speth’s former Longhorn teammate Scotty Scheffler was among a handful of players to draw at Level 3 below Level 67, including England’s Danny Willett, Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and Dustin Johnson.
Speth said he was relieved to enter the tournament, despite the fact that he finished in a tie in 35th in his last two events and hasn’t won since the Valero Texas Open last year. But at the Augusta National, he always looks relaxed. The 2015 winner has four top ten spots in eight Masters starts.
He was in the second-to-last set of the day, and it turned out on Thursday that because of the rain the Greens weren’t on the field at their usual pace, something Spieth admitted suited his playing style.
But what was hurting Spieth all day was his game from the tee. His ghost all started due to wrong shots on the tee, and he even had to escape from the wrong tee shot to claim one of his birds.
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He produced three birdies and five bogeys in the round, plus he was only below par the day after birding at No. 2. He played the long 5 to perfection, firing two shots in the green on the 575-yard hole and putting two 54 feet in for an easy jumper.
Nothing was so easy after the second hole.
Spieth cut the number 3 and then posted a ghost on three of the next five holes before finishing the front nine with a birdie. His fourth tee with a 240-yard bar-3 went off track until it ended up in the back gallery near the runway. With a bunker to negotiate, he hit a fine shot into the high side of the hole and let it drift to five feet. But he pushed the equality right and had no chance of falling out.
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Then he had a bogey back-to-back on No. 7 and 8. Spieth hit his tee on No. 7 behind a tree. Left with a chance to hit the ball, the ball flew right into the green and into the gallery. The pitch went over 18 feet from the hole – and was lucky not to go further – and missed the long shot to the left of the cup.
At No. 8, 570 yards par-5, he put the tee into a huge bunker on the right side, and his second shot was just off the hole. His third shot to the left of the green finished and after a chip to eight feet from the cup, he missed a tie to drop to 2-over for the round.
He did find some stability with a birdie at No. 9. Once again, his tee shot missed the fairway, and finished well well into the trees. But he had a clear path toward the green and his punch shot settled 31 feet from the hole, directing the ball over a wide, right-to-left trajectory for his second volley.
Spieth returned the ball to No. 11 after hitting a perfect shot. His approach traveled the right way and his 33-yard field ended 12 feet from the hole. Unable to sink the knockout, he fell back to over 2.
Spieth cut through the next three holes before returning his shot to No. 15, a No. 5 who was playing at 550 yards on Thursday. Speth crossed the water in two shots, but barely. His third shot, the pitch, slid seven feet past the pin and made the flyer back to Level 1 over
Number 18 was also an adventure for Spieth. He drove straight into the trees on the left and had to get out into the driveway for his second shot, finishing 117 yards off the pin. He hit a big pitch, even checked and rolled 50 feet from the cup. Spieth placed two hits from that distance to keep a ghost.
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