Sergio García (PAR) has made a good start at the Masters Tournament, although it’s quite legitimate for him to think, and for everyone who followed his round shot by shot, that a better result slipped away from him. It slipped away and he deserved it.
It’s not about getting carried away with wishful thinking, nor picking at wounds, nor being overly optimistic. In a cold analysis, if Sergio had sunk two putts, he would have signed a scorecard more in line with his exceptional tee-to-green play. He really only made one putt throughout his round. Just one. It was just over two metres on the 5th hole for par. The rest of his putts were from a metre or less. It’s too meagre a balance to get up there and fight for the lead. From tee to green, he played to compete with the Schefflers, Rose, Aberg, and DeChambeau, but he lacked the supreme luck of the putt.
García has shown at Augusta that he has arrived with his golf perfectly tuned. His start was overwhelming. He made a birdie on the 1st by hitting the shot of the day, leaving his ball a metre away for birdie. Immediately after, he missed a one-and-a-half-metre putt for birdie on the 2nd. What seemed like just an accident at that moment later became a constant.
On the 3rd, he again created a magnificent birdie opportunity. It was less than two metres. It didn’t go in either. He didn’t miss his first shot until the 6th hole, a ball that went more to the left than intended, leaving him in a very delicate situation. Bogey. We mentioned the first mistake, but really the count can stop there. He didn’t make any more errors.
He left other good opportunities along the way on the 8th, where he three-putted after reaching this always demanding green in two, and he also missed a three-metre putt for par on the 9th, after a second shot that was the second worst of the day, although it wasn’t far from being good. Finally, on the 13th, he missed another putt of less than three metres for birdie and finished the job on the 17th with another great shot to a metre and a half that he couldn’t convert.
What you’ve just read is an objective description of Sergio’s round, so it’s no exaggeration to say that the man from Borriol only needed to sink a couple more putts today. It would have been the fairest outcome. If one can appeal to this kind of justice in sport and golf in particular. In any case, Sergio should take the positive reading. He has displayed high-quality golf, and if the putt catches fire in the coming days, he has shown he has everything else to fight for victory.
In contrast, Jon Rahm (+3) hasn’t managed to dispel the doubts he arrived with at the Masters. His game isn’t quite there. It’s not a disaster, let’s not be mistaken, but it has gaps. Shots are dropping here and there, which deflate him. He holds on with everything because he’s a titan, but he lacks the brilliance needed to be overwhelming. At least, as overwhelming as he once was. In the recent LIV Golf tournaments, he survived thanks to the putt, which was on fire every week, but today it didn’t accompany him as much, and that’s why he ended up so far behind.
The million-dollar question is whether he has already lost the chance to win the Masters. It’s too early to be categorical, but he has certainly made it very, very, very difficult for himself. It’s not so much about the ten-shot difference with Justin Rose (-7), the sole leader, but because in a difference of six or more shots are DeChambeau, Hatton, Aberg, or even Scheffler. Can Jon take six shots off those four players in three days? Of course, but it’s not normal. He’ll need to start showing his extraterrestrial version, a version, by the way, that he hasn’t shown for a while.
Finally, José María Olazábal (+5) paid dearly for his 10th hole. He made a triple bogey that weighed heavily on a round that was more or less under control until that moment. In any case, the provisional cut is at +1, but tomorrow it could go to +3 or even +4. There are still chances, although really an under-par round by Olazábal at Augusta is almost a feat because of how long the course is for him.
