In raging wind that left most players celebrating anything around par, Charley Hoffman ran off seven birdies over his last 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-shot lead over Masters newcomer William McGirt.
So tough was Augusta National in gusts that approached 40 miles per hour that Hoffman and McGirt were the only players who broke 70. Hoffman didn’t have reason to believe he would be one of them, after a pair of three-putt bogeys early in the round.
‘After that, I can’t remember missing a putt,’ he said.
Hoffman’s four-shot lead was the largest at the Masters for the opening round since Jack Burke Jr. had a four-shot lead in 1955.
Lee Westwood, who has the credentials as the best player to have never won a major, ran off five straight birdies late in the afternoon and salvaged a 70. Only eight other players broke par, a group that included Phil Mickelson, Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.
Rory McIlroy, needing only a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam, used a nifty short game to stay in the mix. He saved two tough pars after missing the green in the wrong spots on Nos. 10 and 11, ran off three birdies in the middle of the back nine, and closed with another good par save for a 72.
Dustin Johnson never got a chance to see how he would fare. Johnson slipped coming down the stairs on Wednesday, landing on his elbow and back. While he attempted a few swings on the range, he was forced to withdraw.
‘I can’t do it,’ Johnson said. ‘I don’t feel there’s any chance of competing.’
‘If it would have happened on Monday, I don’t think we’d have any issues. But it happened Wednesday,’ he said. ‘To have a freak accident happen, it sucks. It sucks really bad.’
The wind was so strong that it blew golf balls some 6 feet on the greens as Adam Scott and defending champion Danny Willett were getting ready to putt.
McGirt, who qualified for his first Masters by winning the Memorial last year, thought he had a good omen when he saw Jack Nicklaus on Wednesday, and the six-time Masters champion told him that Augusta and Muirfield Village had enough similarities that McGirt would be fine.
He made only one bogey, had a few tough par saves and a few birdies and shot 69.
Hoffman just never stopped making birdies.
Right about the time McGirt was talking about how cool it was to see his name atop the leaderboard, Hoffman birdied the 14th to reach 4 under. He picked up another birdie on the 15th with a delicate wedge shot.
His 7-iron on the par-3 16th ran down the ridge to a few feet for a third straight birdie. And feeling like he could do no wrong, Hoffman hammered a pitching wedge to 3 feet on the 17th for a fourth straight birdie.
His approach to the 18th was headed for the bunker when it hit the side of it by a few inches and caromed on to the green. His 15-foot birdie missed by an inch, but made par to hold a commanding first round lead.
The Masters round one:
65 – Charley Hoffman (USA) 34-31
69 – William McGirt (USA) 35-34
70 – Lee Westwood (ENG) 39-31
71 – Russell Henley (USA) 35-36, Kevin Chappell (USA) 35-36, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 35-36, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 35-36, Phil Mickelson (USA) 35-36, Justin Rose (ENG) 34-37, Jason Dufner (USA) 35-36, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 35-36
72 – Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 36-36, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 32-40, Paul Casey (ENG) 36-36, Ernie Els (RSA) 39-33, Matt Kuchar (USA) 39-33, Shane Lowry (IRL) 35-37, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 39-33
73 – Scott Piercy (USA) 34-39, Fred Couples (USA) 36-37, Rickie Fowler (USA) 34-39, Danny Willett (ENG) 38-35, Jon Rahm (ESP) 35-38, Marc Leishman (AUS) 35-38, Justin Thomas (USA) 37-36
74 – Daniel Summerhays (USA) 38-36, Brendan Steele (USA) 37-37, Larry Mize (USA) 38-36, Stewart Hagestad (USA) 37-37, Kevin Kisner (USA) 37-37, Brooks Koepka (USA) 35-39, Jason Day (AUS) 37-37, Rod Pampling (AUS) 36-38, Pat Perez (USA) 39-35, Ryan Moore (USA) 36-38, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 40-34, Chris Wood (ENG) 36-38, Yuta Ikeda (JPN) 38-36, Alex Noren (SWE) 39-35, Bubba Watson (USA) 38-36
75 – Billy Hurley (USA) 36-39, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 38-37, Gary Woodland (USA) 38-37, Adam Scott (AUS) 37-38, Jordan Spieth (USA) 36-39, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 39-36, Kim Si-Woo (KOR) 37-38, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 37-38, James Hahn (USA) 35-40, Webb Simpson (USA) 35-40, Steve Stricker (USA) 38-37, Bernhard Langer (GER) 36-39, Bill Haas (USA) 35-40
76 – Mike Weir (CAN) 39-37, Sean O’Hair (USA) 36-40, Kevin Na (USA) 39-37, Russell Knox (SCO) 36-40, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 39-37, Branden Grace (RSA) 41-35, Ian Woosnam (WAL) 37-39, Ross Fisher (ENG) 36-40, An Byeong-Hun (KOR) 37-39, Patrick Reed (USA) 38-38, Hideto Tanihara (JPN) 38-38, Jimmy Walker (USA) 39-37
77 – Brian Stuard (USA) 39-38, Sandy Lyle (SCO) 36-41, Zach Johnson (USA) 39-38, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 38-39, Daniel Berger (USA) 36-41, Hudson Swafford (USA) 38-39, Jose Maria Olazabal (ESP) 37-40, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 38-39, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 40-37
78 – Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 38-40, Jim Furyk (USA) 40-38, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 37-41, J.B. Holmes (USA) 36-42, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 39-39, Wang Jeung-Hun (KOR) 37-41, Martin Kaymer (GER) 36-42, Mark O’Meara (USA) 38-40, Brad Dalke (USA) 39-39, Curtis Luck (AUS) 38-40, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 39-39
79 – Trevor Immelman (RSA) 40-39, Roberto Castro (USA) 38-41, Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 40-39, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 38-41, Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) 39-40
80 – Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 40-40
81 – Toto Gana (CHI) 42-39
82 – Scott Gregory (ENG) 41-41
WD – Dustin Johnson (USA)
Photo: Getty Images
