AUGUSTA, Ga. — 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett shot a 4-under 68 in Thursday’s opening round of the Masters, the third-lowest round of any early tee time.
His performance was especially surprising since he was coming back from shoulder surgery and wasn’t even sure if he would be able to play in the game until Sunday.
“It’s unexpected, isn’t it?” Willett said. “I had no idea what to expect. So, it’s always nice to go into a game with a decent score, and it gives me a little bit of confidence in myself and hopes that the next few days will be good.” I hope it becomes.”
Willett came to Augusta prepared not to play if his shoulder wasn’t feeling good.
In other words, his week was a close call until tee time.
“I played with a friend on Sunday and I had no problems,” he said. “A lot of it was getting used to the visuals of the golf course again. You can go home and hit it on the driving range, it doesn’t hurt to hit it, you just have to hit the shot.
“Augusta National Women’s Match” [tournament] He was solid, he was fast, he played well, and I was like, you know, I could smell it. ”
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm had a disappointing opening round in his defense of the tournament, shooting a 1-over 73.
“It’s a difficult golf course, that’s all I can say,” he said. “It’s not easy. You don’t have the luxury of missing shots, especially tee shots. Unfortunately, I missed too many shots on that back nine.
“I wasn’t able to get into the best position for a birdie and ended up with a slightly better score. It’s disappointing. A bad swing is a bad swing.”
LIV Golf Commissioner Greg Norman, who was at Wednesday’s practice round, walked around the course Thursday observing the players.
“I think it shows he cares,” said Bryson DeChambeau, who plays for LIV. “I’ve never had a bad relationship with Greg throughout my career. He’s always been great to me and he’s been great to me throughout LIV. I respect you for showing your support.
“I think people can look at it in different ways. I just see it as a sign that he cares and nothing more. And I think people can look at it in different ways. If he has, that’s for them to decide. But in my opinion, it just shows that he really cares about the game in general.”
Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion and runner-up last year, called Augusta’s conditions on Thursday “a really fair test” after shooting 1-over par.
“The wind was difficult, but the greens were acceptable. Even with the difficult wind conditions, the greens were acceptable, so I thought I could score. It was a really fun challenge.”
Ryan Fox, the only New Zealander in the field, got off to a strong start, scoring 31 on the front nine before going around five under and finishing the first round with a three-under 69.
“Everything went really well today,” Fox said. “I drove great, which is very important here. I had a lot of decent iron shots and holed some putts. I made some nice ups and downs towards the end of the round. . If you hadn’t teed off today and gave me 3 under, I definitely would have taken it.”
