First, in case you didn't hear, Ernie Els did NOT make a 10 on the first hole. He made a 9. That means he didn't 7-putt from under 3 feet; rather, he 6-putted.
I know it truly is not plenty comfort to Ernie, but it is one much less stroke he wishes to make up nowadays if he is going to make the reduce on the Masters.
And I certainly would not write him off. After all, we were given pretty a few surprises on Thursday.
One of the biggest was Jordan Spieth's bogey-free 66 in 15-20mph winds. BOGEY-FREE! That simply wasn't something you would expect from anybody in those conditions, even with the Augusta greens crew setting things up a bit easier in anticipation of the wind.
Now it is not unusual for a person to shoot a ridiculously low rating in tough conditions at any event; it takes place all of the time. But judging from feedback after the spherical, that bogey-loose spherical has seemingly sent shivers through the sector. If Jordan can simply preserve it collectively over nowadays and the next day, he can also start Sunday with a pretty massive lead.
Jason Day's even par round (-five on the front, five at the back) become a piece of a shocker. Rory's 70 may additionally have disenchanted him a piece given that he misplaced pictures on the ultimate three holes, however he's within the nice shape of the Fab4 to trap Jordan.
Of the other gamers who were mentioned earlier than the Masters started, simplest Justin Rose showed nicely with a sixty nine. (Note that I stated "were pointed out". Players like Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Sergio have proven they are able to play nicely at Augusta, whether or not everybody talks about them or not!)
My "five to Watch" selections failed to honest all that well:
- Adam Scott (my pick to win), +4
- Rickie Fowler, +8 (at least I did mention his need to avoid big numbers, which he didn't)
- Phil Mickelson, E
- Louis Oosthuizen, E
- Dustin Johnson, +1
Perhaps no longer fairly, the best rankings of the day came from players nobody turned into speakme about -- Danny Lee and Shane Lowry, both with sixty eight. And 8 of the Top12 (numerous are tied for ninth at -2) are European, which will also be a characteristic of the wind. This Masters can be the quality risk for a European to win due to the fact that Jos? Mar?A Olaz?Bal gained in 1999. (Wow, has it definitely been that long?)
Of direction, all of it hinges on what the 'struggling' Jordan Spieth does over the next three rounds. I suspect a big move-segment of the field needs they were suffering like him proper now.
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