Nobody would be surprised if this Thursday no golfer had been able to hand in a bogey-free card at the Augusta National. Similarly, nobody would be surprised if the only one to achieve it was Scottie Scheffler (-6).
That’s what comes with being the undisputed World Number One and his straight-line golf. Anyone would say that he was the one who invented the perfect projections of the trackman on television, when they are perfect, of course. What an ability the Texas player has to draw the shots as each hole, each dog leg, each green entrance demands…
Scheffler has outdone himself this Thursday at the Masters. He has shown his best version. And this is saying a lot about a golfer who has already won one and has never dropped out of the top 20 in four participations. He has signed his best ever card in Augusta (66 strokes) and has managed to avoid bogeys for the first time. It’s like the 5.0 version of a player who has been above the rest from tee to green for some time.
With his best round at the Masters, Scheffler has positioned himself in pursuit of the lead held by Bryson DeChambeau alone. Only Scottie has been able to overshadow a player who today has been blessed on the greens. This has not been the case for the Number One. He hasn’t putted badly, but he hasn’t made any long ones either. The best of his repertoire near the hole has been an exceptional bunker shot that he holed on the 12th.
Scheffler is already there. Surely today he will be talked about again, others will be asked about his performance. It’s possible. Or maybe not? Who knows. What things.
Among the golfers who have managed to finish their round before it was suspended due to lack of light, we must highlight Cam Davis (-3), Corey Conners (-2), Ben An (-2), Joaco Niemann (-2), Will Zalatoris (-2), Tony Finau (-1), Patrick Cantlay (-1), Viktor Hovland (-1), Cameron Smith (-1), Mattthew Fitzpatrick (-1), amateur Neal Shipley (-1) and Rory McIlroy (-1).
Precisely, the Northern Irishman deserves a separate comment. It has not been an easy day, his golf has not gone smoothly and, even so, he has managed to pull off a good under par round that keeps him intact in the fight. He is far away, but if today has been his bad day, it’s good news for him. It’s the first time he’s played under par in the opening round of the Masters since 2018. It’s said soon. For now, without being a great round for Rory, at least today he goes to bed knowing that he hasn’t given his rivals much advantage practically from the starting grid.
And we say it has not been an easy day for him because he started with a bogey on hole 2, one of the easiest in Augusta, made another on the 4th and really didn’t go under par until hole 12. They have squandered tons of patience. Today yes.
Among the bad rounds of the day, stand out Hideki Matsuyama (+4), Rickie Fowler (+4), Adrian Meronk (+6) or Wyndham Clark (+1), beyond also the one over par of Jon Rahm.
