A look at all the action from the first day of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
The 86th Masters was kicked off yesterday as the world’s best golfers all convened at Augusta National Golf Club in the hopes of a green jacket.
Augusta is one of the hardest courses to play and is famous for swallowing players and spitting them back out. However, the quality of golf on day one was brilliant, beautiful chips from Cameron Smith from the fairway and a couple amazing recovery shots from Tiger Woods were just some of the highlights.
A very strong showing from Sungjae Im has him out in front of the pack with a -5 score after he shot a 67 round. He snatched the lead from Cameron Smith who shot seven birdies after two double bogies to finish on a -4 score for the day.
With these two out in front we might have seen the two top contenders already.
As for the Irish at the Masters, decent opening rounds of just one and two over par have been the story. Left just outside the even par mark with a good round today we could be set up for a brilliant dash on Saturday and Sunday.
Seamus Power finished the day on two over par in first appearance at a Masters. An earnest but fair result after a couple of bad shots left the Waterford man down. Channelling his inner Woods, Power hit some great recover shots especially on the back nine to just hold his grip on a shot at making the cut tonight.
With that being said, Power is in need of a very good round today to put himself back into contention for at least a top twenty five result.
Padraig Harrington had a up and down day yesterday that saw him sign off at two over par for the first round. A beautiful birdie at the beginning of round was held up until the 12th hole. Three sloppy bogeys on the back nine did not help the 50 year old golfer on his way to a tied 43rd spot.
Harrington’s early round did show a lot of promise, as the Open winner played some great golf. Going into his second round today he will be looking to recreate and hold onto his early form from yesterday.
Shane Lowry joined Harrington in a up and down round that saw some great shots but also some poorer attempts also. Finishing the day on +1 he is in good shape to make the cut for this weekend and move onto Saturday and Sunday’s rounds.
It is important for Lowry to stay consistent as his round yesterday was up and down. A beautiful eagle chip from off the green got him back from two over to even. He would go onto make a birdie but a sloppy double bogey sent him back down the leader board.
Rory McIlroy is sitting tied 31st and joining Lowry on one over par on his first round. Rory had a fairly consistent day but couldn’t capitalise on some well crafted approach shots from the fairway and just just off the green. A player with the skills of McIlory definitely shouldn’t be worried as it only takes one hot streak for the former world No.1 to jump up the leader board.
His round today is gonna be a litmus test for the rest of the tournament as making the cut isn’t the only priority. Climbing the leader board today is very important as with Im and Smith seemingly running away with the competition it is important to stay in contact with the leaders. A round of 68 today would be perfect for Rory to be in with a chance going into the weekend.
The scoreboard going into day two is as follows
| 1 |  | S.J. Im | -5 | -5 |
| 2 |  | C. Smith | -4 | -4 |
| T3 |  | D. Willett | -3 | -3 |
| T3 |  | J. Niemann | -3 | -3 |
| T3 |  | S. Scheffler | -3 | -3 |
| T3 | | D. Johnson | -3 | -3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T7 | | J. Kokrak | -2 | -2 |
| T7 |  | C. Conners | -2 | -2 |
| T7 | | P. Cantlay | -2 | -2 |
| T10 | | H. Higgs | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | K. Na | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | D. Berger | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | T. Woods | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | T. Finau | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | W. Simpson | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | H. Varner III | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | W. Zalatoris | -1 | -1 |
| T10 | | M. Fitzpatrick | -1 | -1 |
| T19 |  | G. Higgo | E | E |
| T19 | | T. Gooch | E | E |
| T19 |  | H. Matsuyama | E | E |
| T19 | | C. Champ | E | E |
| T19 | | L. Glover | E | E |
| T19 | | C. Schwartzel | E | E |
| T19 | | L. Westwood | E | E |
| T19 | | K. Nakajima | E | E |
| T19 |  | S. García | E | E |
| T19 |  | A. Ancer | E | E |
| T19 | | T. Hatton | E | E |
| T19 |  | V. Hovland | E | E |
| T31 |  | S. Lowry | +1 | +1 |
| T31 |  | R. McIlroy | +1 | +1 |
| T43 | | S. Power | +2 | +2 |
| T43 | | P. Harrington | +2 | +2 |
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