2014 Masters Day 1 Recap: Haas, Scott impressive early
One day is in the books at Augusta National and the 2014 Masters, and the day brought plenty of incredible rounds, some tough breaks for some of the top names and a leaderboard that is as stacked as one would expect.
We take a second to recap all that happened on Thursday at the Masters.
One of the stories of the day was just how hard Augusta National played for a Thursday. We saw twice as many rounds in the 80s as we saw in the 60s, with plenty of the names we expected to contend basically shooting themselves out of the tournament after 18 holes.
What were some of the names that took advantage of the conditions and played solid golf at Augusta National? Bill Haas is the first, firing an opening round 68 to hold the first-round lead all by himself. Haas bogeyed the opening hole, but played his final 17 at 5-under to grab the clubhouse lead after day one.
Right behind Haas are the two champions of this event, Adam Scott (the defending champ) and Bubba Watson, who alongside Louis Oosthuizen are tied at 3-under. Scott's round was a little different than Bubba's, leaving plenty of shots on the course after the double-bogey on No. 12 and the two three-putts for par on Nos. 13 and 15.
Bubba was simply solid, making three birdies and no bogeys as he looks to add a second green jacket to his trophy case.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Fred Couples and Rickie Fowler are some of the big names that were also able to post an opening round under par, getting themselves in a great spot with 54 holes remaining.
On the other side of the spectrum sits Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Jason Dufner, who had miserable days at Augusta National. All these guys will need a low Friday round just to make it to the weekend, and will need to play near flawless golf the rest of the week if they want to contend for this championship.
There is no shorter hole in golf that can wreck a round quite like the par-3 12th at Augusta National, and it was an absolute brute on Thursday. Scott found the water and made a double-bogey, Oosthuizen couldn't avoid the water on the par-3 and even McIlroy, who found the green, three-putted for a water-free bogey.
When the wind picks up at Augusta National it's the 12th that can be the toughest, and that was definitely the case on Thursday.
"I played like a moron." — Craig Stadler, after opening with a round of 10-over 82
This was where Russell Henley played his third shot from on the par-5 13th hole, eventually making a bogey but still posting a 1-over 73.
From our buddy Adam Sarson comes this great GIF of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hitting the opening tee shots, always the best shot of the day on a Thursday at the Masters.
Well, we are one round in and have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. That is what makes major championships great!
Will Phil go low enough on Friday to get in the hunt? Can Adam and Bubba keep it going for the past champions? Is Lee Westwood going to wear a shirt that might break my TV screen?
We will be around on Friday with another live blog, so if you missed the one on Thursday, or just didn't know about, swing by and keep up with the tournament with us.
Also, don't forget to check the Friday tee times and see who is the featured group for the online coverage as we get ready for the second round.
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