Bryson DeChambeau leads Scottie Scheffler at Masters; Tiger Woods plays 13 holes after storms delay start
Bryson DeChambeau has been here before. We’ll see if the LIV Golf star can keep it going this time at Augusta National Golf Club.
DeChambeau birdied the first three holes and opened with 7-under-par 65 in Thursday’s abbreviated first round of the 88th Masters Tournament. He’s the clubhouse leader by one shot with 27 players still to complete the round. Those groups will return Friday at 7:50 a.m. to complete their round.
DeChambeau was the first-round co-leader in 2019 with a 66. But he followed it with 75-73-70 to tie for 29th place.
World No. 1 and 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler easily got his round in before dark, firing 66 thanks to 4-under-par 32 on the back nine. He had the only bogey-free round of those that finished.
Danny Willett, another former Masters champion who is one of six golfers from the United Kingdom in the field, had 68 in the third grouping of the day.
Of those players still on the course when play was suspended by darkness at 7:51 p.m., Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, one of the talented group of first-timers this year, is 5 under for his round through 15 holes.
Rory McIlroy, seeking to complete the career Grand Slam, opened with a four-birdie, three-bogey 71.
The anticipated nasty weather never materialized, especially after the starting times were moved back 2 ½ hours to make sure threatening weather was out of the area. It meant the final grouping didn’t go off until 4:30 p.m.
Among the players yet to complete the first round are five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods (1-under par through 13 holes); last year’s runner-up Brooks Koepka (even par through 11); and former Masters champions Dustin Johnson (1-over through 10), and Jordan Spieth (2-over through 11), Bubba Watson (1-over through 15) and Patrick Reed (2-under through 14).
Koepka, Johnson, Watson and Reed play on the LIV Golf tour.
DeChambeau has missed the cut the previous two years at the Masters, shooting a combined 16-over. In those four rounds, covering 72 holes, he had seven total birdies and an eagle. On Thursday, he had eight birdies to go with one bogey.
“If you don't play well at any golf tournament, it bothers me, even if it's any event,” DeChambeau said. “Any event you're at, we're always trying to win. We are not just going there to hit it around and have a hit-and-giggle. I'm trying to win every single golf tournament. It's been extremely disappointing, especially with how well I love this golf course, love the patrons, love the members, love the golf course conditions. Everything about it, it's something I've dreamed of always winning my entire life.”
Thursday's round of 65 is two shots better than the standard set in DeChambeau’s now-infamous quote from before the 2020 Masters, when he said Augusta National played at “par 67 for me” because he can reach all four par 5’s in two shots.
On Thursday, DeChambeau hit 15 of 18 greens and 10 of 14 fairways, averaging 316 yards off the tee. He needed his putter 27 times.
“The thing about Bryson, people don't talk about it, he's always been one of the best putters in the world,” said Gary Woodland, one of DeChambeau’s playing partners. “When he drives it like he did today, I mean, he drove it really good, and he makes putts, he's obviously very good. It was a clinic. It was impressive. He didn't get out of position hardly at all, and he rolled it very, very nice.”
Scheffler, who has 18 top-10 finishes in his past 24 starts with three victories, had six birdies and no bogeys. He’s won two of his past three tournaments and finished as a runner-up in the other.
“I try to use it as good momentum,” Scheffler said. “I've had some good results in the last month or so. And, you know, I'm trying to use that in a positive way. But it really – when you step up there on the first tee, I'm not thinking about last week and I'm not thinking about the week before that. I'm thinking about the shot I'm trying to hit, and that's pretty much it.”
The most impressive stat of Scheffler’s day had to do with his putting, which can be suspect at times. He had just 27 putts, matching DeChambeau and Willett.
While Scheffler’s play was hardly surprising, the same can’t be said about Willett, the 2016 Masters champion who has missed the cut two of the previous three years.
Plus, Willett is just getting over shoulder surgery and wasn’t sure he could play until Sunday.
“I played with a friend of mine, and I played all right,” he said. “Sunday this place was unbelievable. After the Augusta National Women's Amateur it was firm, it was fast, and I played all right, so I was like, you know what, there's a sniff.
“We played 27 (holes), I woke up the next day, no pain, no nothing, walked it, and that was kind of like, all right - even if you play bad I think it's still worthwhile taking the risk and at least pegging it up and feed off people's energy around here and hopefully have a few good days,” he said.
The old adage “beware the sick golfer” might apply. He started Round 1 with little to no expectations.
“It’s completely unexpected,” he said of his score. “Sometimes that happens, whatever. You make a couple of birdies and your mind starts thinking, all right, I can do it. It was nice to keep chilled out. Again, because it was playing tough, probably really made us concentrate that little bit more.
Willett birdied 15, 16 and 18 coming home and had seven birdies in all.
“Nice finish there and those last four holes to come back, and instead of posting an all right score of level-ish, which would, again, for me have been an amazing achievement, but to shoot 68, yeah, really happy,” he said.
Willett finished two groups ahead of DeChambeau, so his time as the tournament leader didn’t last long.
As he and DeChambeau finished, the wind was picking up. Woodland didn’t think anyone would match DeChambeau’s 65, and he was right, though Scheffler made a run at it. He would have tied DeChambeau if he had converted a 19-foot birdie putt on No. 17 that nearly fell in.
Since 2019, DeChambeau’s best finish at Augusta National has been a tie for 34th place. He missed the cut the previous two years, playing those four rounds in 16 over par.
DeChambeau led the 13-player LIV Golf charge. Among the finishers, Joaquin Niemann had 70, Cam Smith shot 71 and Sergio Garcia had 72.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Masters Thursday 2024: Bryson DeChambeau leads Scottie Scheffler
