The Augusta National golf course is one of the most difficult you’ll find on a good day. It’s even more so when polished to a razor’s edge for tournament play.
But Thursday’s first round of the 2024 Masters introduced yet another dimension to the gorgeous nightmare of a round at Augusta. After rain swept through overnight and delayed the start of the tournament a cold front moved through, bringing steady winds of 20 miles per hour and occasional gusts into the 30s. No less an authority than Tiger Woods, who’s played the course for thirty years now, called the conditions some of the most challenging he’s ever seen. That’s saying something.
The conditions were better in the morning than the afternoon. That partially explains how Bryson DeChambeau, who was in one of the first few groups onto the course, rocketed out to the lead with a stellar -7 round of 65 to take the lead going into day 2. It was a less successful day for the former Georgia Bulldogs in the field, as none of the six broke par* on day 1.
There’s an asterisks there because, well, day 1 is now bleeding into day 2. Brian Harman for example only completed 12 holes of his first round before they called things last night. So he’ll play 24 holes of golf today and with better conditions could move up the leaderboard. Bubba Watson stands at +1 through 16 holes, having settled in on the backside after a two over par 38 on the front nine.
Harris English did finish his round at even par, bogeying 16 and 17 before settling down to par 18. It was a tough finish to what could have been a very solid round. Sepp Straka and Russell Henley stand at +1, with Henley having played one of the more up-and-down rounds of the day (4 bogeys vs. 3 birdies).
Chris Kirk rounds out the UGA contingent at +2, and is the only former Red and Black golfer currently outside the cut line (top 50 golfers, plus ties). Kirk’s round made Henley’s look like a model of consistency, as he took double bogeys on 5 and 15, bogeyed three more holes, but also carded five birdies.
It’s difficult to say that any of the UGA golfers is truly out of the tournament after day 1, but none is really in what one would consider prime position, either. Augusta resembles a Las Vegas casino in only two respects: it’s easy to lose track of time, and your luck can change very quickly. If any of the Dawgs can get a good bounce, hole some putts, and put up a 66 or 67, they may have a shot to be in contention this weekend. But that may also require DeChambeau coming back to Earth (a real possibility I think) or the super-consistent Scottie Scheffler, currently 2nd at -6, to stumble.
Television coverage will run all day on ESPN, with the completion of round 1 starting at 7:50 am and round 2 ensuing thereafter. Enjoy your pimento cheese, and….
Go ‘Dawgs!!!