Jordan Spieth appears to be back on his game.
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One moment Garcia was fighting to get back to even par and in contention at the Masters.
Tiger Woods felt the love, but it was Jordan Spieth who heard the roars as he surged to a two-stroke lead in the Masters Thursday with a scintillating six-under par 66.
Here are a few more thoughts on Round 1 from Augusta National.
By comparison, Spieth was in 12th after the first round in 2014 before finishing runner-up in his first appearance in the tournament, then led each of the next two years. He has played 17 rounds at the Masters. He has led alone or shared the lead after nine of them.
In today’s second round Spieth tees off at 3.53pm United Kingdom time and he’s playing alongside Sweden’s Alex Noren and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
Tigermania has reached new levels during the Masters build-up and yesterday’s round was a demoralising comedown after Woods raised hopes that he could challenge for a fifth Green Jacket. Tiger swore he didn’t feel “jittery” entering his first heavyweight fight in a long time, but he’s human.
“I don’t know”, Garcia said, trying to find the words in his non-native language.
Then consider the recent history of this tournament.
So what will Friday’s second round bring?
Back in major competition for the first time since the 2015 PGA Championship, Woods made four bogeys and three birdies to shoot 1-over-par 73.
When Woods stepped to the first tee on a sunny, brisk morning, the patrons finally heard the words they’ve missed out on at the last two Masters.
Guess who’s leading after a 66 on Thursday?
When the day began, Tony Finau was not sure he would be cleared to tee off in the first round of the Masters, due to an ankle injury.
He returned this season and has played in six events.
He was joined by Masters newcomer Li Haotong of China, former British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello, Canadian Adam Hadwin and Americans Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman. Mickelson is at 2-under after posting a 70 on Thursday. “If you get off to a good start, you’re in control of your own fate, versus needing a little bit of help”.
CBS takes over on TV from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 2 to 7 p.m. You guessed it, Firethorn is the name given to the 15th hole.
Spieth birdied 14 from 9 feet, 16 from five feet, and chipped to kick-in distance at 15. Consult the full live stream schedule here.
Cool and composed Rory McIlroy goes into tonight’s second round firmly in the hunt for Masters success after an impressive opening round at Augusta National yesterday. After he pitched to 18 feet, Woods made the bogey putt.
“I felt we caught a really good break late in the day today to be able to play in short sleeves with no wind – the hardest part is figuring out which direction the wind’s coming from”.
Finau’s round of 68, meanwhile, was made all the more remarkable by him playing despite dislocating his ankle after holing a tee shot in Wednesday’s par-three contest.
Finau showed up an hour and 20 minutes before his tee time, with a pronounced limp and a thick white wrap above his low-top Nike shoes.
Defending champion Sergio Garcia shot himself out of tournament at the 15th hole, where he dumped five straight balls into the water.
Last year, he who is from Spain reigned, winning his first major title after 74 tries. In 2017, it was the toughest hole on the course.
But Garcia put five balls in the water and carded a 13, two shots higher than anyone had ever recorded at the 15th.
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“You saw it”, he said. And that, along with Garcia’s earnest attempts to describe the horrifying calamity that befell him Thursday, makes him even more likeable than when he won the green jacket past year.
