Louis Oosthuizen three-putted 17 and lipped out from six feet on the 18th to trail Jordan Spieth by five strokes at The Masters, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
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After all Oosthuizen’s efforts on Thursday, he was just -1 through 18 as he watched his playing partner tear up the back nine at Augusta National.
Spieth made five birdies in a row including his first ever birdie on the 17th to move past Tony Finau into the lead late on in round one. The reigning Open champion was forced to chip after a wayward drive on the last hole but after he heaved a 3-wood near the green, he showed every ounce of class as he almost chipped it in.
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The bogey saw Spieth give one back on the field and allow Finau, who shrugged off his ankle injury, and Matt Kuchar, the player who the American beat to win the Claret Jug, to stay within two shots.
Spieth’s 66 means he now leads in more than 50 percent of the rounds he’s played around Augusta as he chases his second Green Jacket.
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Oosthuizen was the backup act on Thursday but almost dropped entirely from the picture after starting poorly. The South African was three over through seven. A birdie at the 8th helped and his second of the day at the 10th, one of Thursday’s toughest holes, got Oosthuizen into fourth gear.
Oosthuizen rolled in a putt from just over the back of the short 12th hole and then pitched and putted for a birdie on the next to move under par for the first time in the round. He would go on to bogey 14th but got two more back with birdies at 15th and 16th which came courtesy of a 30 footer.
Moving steadily up the leaderboard, the mistakes came late which let the wind out of his sails as he only momentarily matched Spieth’s charge out of the blocks.
While you can’t win a Major on Thursday, you certainly can lose it and no one will know that better than defending champion Sergio Garcia after his nightmare 13 on the par-five 15th. The Spaniard put five balls into the water in a row before finally ending the pain with a one-putt and an opening 81; his second blowout round in recent times.
Kuchar and Finau are closest to Spieth with Henrik Stenson and grand slam chasing Rory McIlroy in the group of seven at three under par.
McIlroy made a trio of par saves to keep himself in with a shout, after Spieth threatened to run away with proceedings on a course where he is becoming almost invincible. Almost.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
