A broken driver on Wednesday couldn’t stop him, neither could a lot of wind and tough playing conditions Thursday at the opening round of the 80th Masters.
Jordan Spieth was relentless with his precision short game and a putter that looked every bit as deadly as it did last year when he went wire-to-wire.
Spieth made the most of his opportunities, put up six birdies and no bogeys on his way to a 66 that was good enough for a two-shot lead.
“I think it was better than my first round last year,” said Spieth, who opened with 64 in 2015. “With those conditions and a western wind made it very challenging. “Those chips and putts were key. I got the most I could possibly get out of my round. The wind kinda plays with your head. You gotta stay real patient,” said Spieth who hit only 12 greens and eight of 14 fairways. He missed the first green badly to the right but made an incredible up-and-down for par that set the tone for his day. Every time he was in trouble, he would salvage par with a great chip and putt. “I feel like we stole a few,” Spieth added.
Others weren’t as fortunate. Jason Day looked like he would catch and pass Spieth after the world’s No. 1 shot a five-under par 31 on the front nine that was simply perfection, including an eagle at the par five second. Day stayed at five-under going to the par five 15th, a birdie opportunity for a player with his extreme length. But that is where his round began to crumble. He made bogey there after a three-putt then found the water at 16 and would end up with a triple there. Before it was done, he shot 41 coming home for 72.
“I played great up until 15 green,” Day recounted. “At 16 I pulled it. I got out of position the last four holes. I’m not too disappointed. We’re gonna have a tough day tomorrow and Saturday. Keep pushing forward.”
While Day couldn’t capitalize, Danny Lee and Shane Lowry did. They both finished with 68s in pursuit of Spieth.
Rory McIlroy had a great chance to join Lee and Lowry after he eagled the par five 13th to get to four-under but bogies at 16 and 18 left him at 70.
Only 20 players in the field shot under par with a lot of name players virtually shooting themselves in the foot. Fourth-ranked Bubba Watson was two-under through 10 holes and finished with 41 on the back nine for 75. Fifth-ranked Rickie Fowler was even par at the turn, shot 44 on the back for 80.
Adam Scott, one of the pre-tournament favorites, opened with 76.
Bryson DeChambeau, playing in his last event as an amateur, played with Spieth and shot 72.
