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Scott off to Perfect Start at Masters
It's All in the Family for Haas
McIlroy Holds Off Young Guns at Masters
Blixt, Walker Two Back to Lead Masters Rookies
Scott off to Perfect Start at Masters
AUGUSTA, April 10, 2014 (AFP) - Adam Scott made a storming start to the Masters on Thursday as he opened his campaign to become the first back-to-back champion at Augusta National since Tiger Woods in 2002.
The Australian, who last year became the first player from his country to win the Masters, carded a three-under 69, which could have been even better had he not found water en route to a double-bogey five at the treacherous 12th.
It was the best first round by a defending Masters champion since Jose Maria Olazabal shot a 66 in 1995.
Scott tucked himself in just one stroke back from Bill Haas, a 31-year-old American ranked 31st in the world who sank a five-footer at the last for the day's best round of 68.
Late in the day, Scott was joined on three-under by Louis Oosthuizen and the man who beat the South African in a playoff to win the Masters two years ago, Bubba Watson.
Tied for fourth, a further stroke back, was a sextet comprising Americans Kevin Stadler, Gary Woodland, Jimmy Walker and Brandt Snedeker as well as Jonas Blixt of Sweden and K.J. Choi of South Korea.
Tournament favorite Rory McIlroy was among a large group of players bunched on 71.
Scott opened confidently with a birdie and was four under after 10 holes before he hit into the water at the 12th for the first time in his career.
But a birdie at 14 got him back to three-under and he scrambled well to save par at Augusta's tough closing hole.
"I feel like I am playing really well," Scott said. "I felt I played good enough to shoot in the 60s today so it was good to make that par save at the last.
"Very happy the way I played tee to green. I hit the one poor shot at 12 which cost me a couple of shots.
"Very pleased to get off to such a good start and there is no doubt that winning the Masters last year has made me more comfortable on the first tee than I've ever been in the past because I didn't have the legs jangling for six or seven holes like usual, so that was enjoyable for me today."
Haas, whose father Jay placed third in the 1995 Masters, had six birdies against two bogeys en route to his 68, but it was the birdie at the tough 18th that brought him the most satisfaction.
He refused, however, to get too far ahead of himself.
"I was leading last week (at Houston) after the first round and finished 37th, so I know there's tons of golf left," he said.
"And maybe understanding that, I know that I can't expect too much. You've just got to go out there and keep playing golf, try to hit that fairway on number one tomorrow."
In the absence though injury of world number one Tiger Woods, it was the group containing 24-year-old Irishman McIlroy and two rising US stars -- 20-year-old Jordan Spieth and 23-year-old Patrick Reed -- that drew the biggest fan following.
McIlroy and Spieth shared the honors in that joist, both scoring 71s, while Reed bogeyed the last three holes to settle for a 73.
McIlroy said it had been impressed by the composure showed by his younger playing partners on what had been "a good day" for him.
"There's a lot of good young guys coming up, coming through, and I feel like I'm one of the older, well not older, but there's maybe Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, myself, these guys, Matteo Manassero, there's a lot of good young players coming up," McIlroy said.
There was big trouble early on for Augusta crowd-pleaser Phil Mickelson when he triple-bogeyed the seventh to get to the turn in 39.
The three-time former champion bounced back with birdies at 10 and 13, but he sent his approach to the 15th into the water and a double bogey seven brought him in three holes later with a 76 -- equalling his worst Masters start in what is his 22nd appearance dating back to 1991.
"Disappointing for sure," the five-time major winner said. "But we got a long ways to go and I've got a lot of work to do and I don't feel like my game is off, I really don't."
The man he pipped for the first of his titles at Augusta National in 2004, Ernie Els, also struggled to a 75, while Argentinian Angel Cabrera, who lost in a playoff to Scott last year, limped to a six-over 78, the same mark where 2008 champion Zach Johnson ended the day.
Jason Dufner, who won the last major played at the PGA Championship last August, fared even worse, taking a nine at the par-five 13th en route to a crippling 80.
It's All in the Family for Haas
AUGUSTA, April 11, 2014 (AFP) - Winning the Masters has been a family affair for Bill Haas and his ancestors since his great-uncle, Bob Goalby, captured the green jacket in 1968.
"It has been a special place in our family since then," Haas said of Augusta National.
So it's no wonder there's a special spark for Haas after firing a four-under par 68 Thursday to seize a one-stroke lead after day one of the 78th Masters -- it's in his blood.
"I guess so," Haas said. "We've had a bunch of family play here."
Haas, whose best Masters finish was a share of 20th last year, is the son of Jay Haas, who was third in the 1995 Masters.
The younger Haas has also had two uncles play in the Masters. Dillard Pruitt was 13th in 1992 and also played the next year while Jerry Haas was 31st in 1985.
"It's something I think we are very proud of to have that many members of our family be able to tee it up here at Augusta," Bill Haas said.
"My dad played here 22 times. We came most of the years. I remember a lot of the shots he hit."
Haas, whose four PGA wins include the 2011 Tour Championship to claim the season playoff crown, broke away from his family this week, however, to help achieve his best Masters round in his fifth appearance.
Haas has used his older brother Jay Jnr, who played college golf at nearby Augusta State, as a caddie in past Masters starts.
But this week, Haas cracked 70 for the first time using Scott Gneiser as his bagman. Gneiser caddied for David Toms when Toms won the 2001 PGA Championship two hours' drive away in Atlanta.
"I needed to switch it up," Bill Haas said. "My brother has been on the bag a bunch for a few years and I think I needed a change.
"He was available and has a major win, has been under the gun, played a lot of big events. I don't think he can do anything but help me."
In round one, Haas gave him plenty of credit for advice on shotmaking.
"He helped me on every shot," Haas said. "He's giving me the yardage and what he thinks the wind is doing. I certainly confide in him just like I would have my brother. No certain reason why my brother is not working and why Scotty is working. It's just the way it is right now.
"I don't think much different than I did with my brother but I do know that deep down, he's been under the gun a bunch of times with David. He has seen a lot more pressure-packed situations than a lot of caddies. So I certainly feel comfortable about that out there."
Haas' father is staying with him this week and offering advice, but there are some things even he cannot do for Bill.
"I never remember thinking, 'Man, I wish I could hit this shot for my dad,' but I do know now that there's some times I'm like, 'I wish my dad could hit this shot for me,'" Haas said.
"It's great having him here. We're staying together this week. He's on the range with me in the morning and hopefully he hasn't left -- he's my ride home."
McIlroy Holds Off Young Guns at Masters
AUGUSTA, April 11, 2014 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy is used to being the young upstart in golf, so he had a new look at things on Thursday when he opened his sixth Masters campaign.
For alongside the 24-year-old Irishman were two players -- both fast rising -- who were younger than himself.
Patrick Reed, with three wins under his belt since since August, is 23 and Jordan Spieth, who last year became the first teenager since 1931 to win a PGA Tour event, is just 20.
McIlory said it made him look like a "veteran" but he more than held his own against his young challengers.
The two-time major winner settled for a 71 after taking a bogey at the last, which was matched by Spieth, while Reed bogeyed the last three holes for a 73.
In the absence of the injured Tiger Woods, it was the McIlroy grouping that drew the day's biggest crowd and while they failed to scale the top-most heights of the first round leaderboard, there was some superb shotmaking on display to admire.
McIlroy said he had been impressed by the composure shown by both of his playing partners.
"I felt they handled it really well," he said. "They both had it under par, Jordan finished under par, Patrick didn't have a good finish, but I felt like they played well.
"Jordan is young compared to Patrick and myself. Patrick's a year younger than me, but there's a lot of good young guys coming up, coming through.
"There's maybe Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, myself, these guys, Matteo Manassero, there's a lot of good young players coming up."
McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead going into the final round of the 2011 Masters, has a best showing of 15th in the tournament, and he feels he now has the experience and knowledge of the fabled course to do much better than that.
Patience was what he lacked three years ago and that he feels will be the key this week as he looks to win a third major after the 2011 US Open and the 2012 PGA Championship.
"I was very patient out there," he said. "Even when I made bogey at 12, I didn't really push too hard. I had a couple of holes coming up where I could make birdies. So it was a good day for patience."
Making his first appearance in the Masters, Dallas-born Spieth said he had enjoyed the day in what had been "a cool pairing."
"Patrick is from Texas, lives in Texas, which is kind of nice when you see the international field to have a fellow Texan with you.
"And then I've played some golf with Rory, very easy to play with. And I really enjoyed playing with him, he roots for me.
"We had good talks on the fairway and whatnot. And he's obviously former number one and a major champion at 25 or 26, whatever he is."
Blixt, Walker Two Back to Lead Masters Rookies
AUGUSTA, April 10, 2014 (AFP) - Sweden's Jonas Blixt and Americans Kevin Stadler and Jimmy Walker led a record 24 first-time Masters players by firing two-under par 70s to finish two strokes off the lead Thursday.
Not since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 has a Masters rookie won the green jacket on his first try, but a fistful of hopefuls put themselves in the early hunt with a solid start at Augusta National.
Blixt, who could become the first Swedish man to win a major title, birdied the third hole and then twice followed bogeys with back-to-back birdies to complete the front nine.
A birdie at the par-5 13th put Blixt atop the leaderboard but bogeys at the par-5 15th and 18, after a par putt lipped out, dropped him back.
"You know you can do it. You've got this under your belt now," Blixt said. "I just need to play smart and aggressive.
"At Augusta, the thing is you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. I feel like I can shoot really low out here. And I really like the golf course the way it sets up. But you could also have a really awful day when you catch all the bad breaks."
The only bad one Thursday for 56th-ranked Blixt came at 18.
"A little heart breaker," Blixt said. "I made a lot of putts today, too, so I can't really be too angry about it.
"You have to be focusing on every single shot. Every single shot can be the best shot of your life and the worst shot of your life. That's Augusta. It's going punish you if you don't focus."
Walker, who has three wins this season, was two-over after bogeys at 11 and 13 before running off four birdies in a row starting at the 14th.
"You can't ever give up. You never know what's going to happen," Walker said.
"Guys know how to play golf. It's a matter of going out and doing your homework and knowing where to hit and not where to hit it. I did a pretty good job of that today."
Overcoming the first-hole nerves was a big factor for Walker.
"It was cool," he said. "Definitely felt a little jitters on the first green. Hit a good putt and settled in. It was great."
For Stadler, the son of 1982 Masters winner Craig Stadler, there was great satisfaction in being on the leaderboard at a course he has seen almost every April since his dad won when he was only two years old.
"I'll take two-under all day every day the rest of my life," Kevin Stadler said.
Jordan Spieth, the 20-year-old American who last year became the first teen PGA winner since 1931, opened on 71.
"I'm very happy with it," Spieth said. "One-under is a good score. The course is playing difficult for everybody. I'm very pleased."
Spieth had three-putt bogeys at four and 14 and birdies at the fifth, ninth and par-5 13th.
"I was really patient, consistent," he said. "My only two bogeys my speed was just off on the first putt. I can take a lot from that. And that's very positive going forward because you're going to have some putts that make you scratch your head."
Spieth learned from watching playing partner Rory McIlroy, a two-time major champion.
"You have to dial it down, no doubt about it. You can't be aggressive," he said. "You can see certain spots where Rory hit shots that looked like they were off line, but in fact they were right where they needed to be versus maybe going more towards the pin."
Oosty, Watson Start Strong
AUGUSTA, April 11, 2014 (AFP) - Two years after their playoff showdown for the Masters crown, Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson find themselves back on the Augusta National leaderboard in contention for the green jacket again.
Watson, who made an amazing rescue shot from the trees on the second playoff hole to win the 2012 Masters, and South African Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, each fired three-under par 69s Thursday to share second with defending champion Adam Scott, one shot behind first-round leader Bill Haas.
"I'm coming back with the take that I want the jacket again," Watson said. "I'm coming back with a different mindset, full of energy."
Oosthuizen takes heart from his major title at St. Andrews and his runner-up effort against Watson.
"This gives you a confidence boost, that you know you can do well on the golf course," he said. "But your game needs to be on form."
Watson says he has found his form by not having the pressures of ceremony thrust upon every Masters champion.
"There's so much you're doing when you're defending champ and my mind can't handle it," Watson said.
"Adam seems to be doing pretty well with it. But for me it was just overwhelming, the Champions Dinner, everybody still congratulating you, so I just never got the focus. I played really bad on Sunday last year."
After sharing 50th last year, Watson found himself somewhat under the radar this year, until now.
"The emotions are different because I'm trying to get the green jacket again. I had it," Watson said.
"It's pressure. You're playing Augusta National, the best golf course in the world, so when you're out here it's a little bit different."
Watson's philosophy was simple in round one -- try to reach the green by whatever means necessary.
"I'm trying to just hit greens. Whatever that comes out," he said. "Today I missed two greens. I missed one by six inches, missed one by three feet. I putted both of those, made pars.
"If I can hit greens, that means I've hit good tee shots and good iron shots, and just trying to make par from there and throw in a birdie here and there. And that's what I did."
Oosthuizen said he could sense a good round in the works.
"I felt like I've been playing, hitting the ball well, the last month or so," he said. "I've been feeling this coming for a while, that I'm swinging well.
"I can see myself doing really well this week."
"Oosty" did get an injury fright when he went to lift four-year-old daughter Jana at Wednesday's Par-3 Contest and felt it tweak nagging back troubles.
"I had a bit of a scare yesterday when I picked up my little girl, but just this morning it was all better," he said.
"Some days it's good. Some days it's not. So I'm managing it pretty good, knowing what I should and shouldn't do. One of the things is probably not to pick up my little girl running towards me. That's tough to not do that. Hopefully, in a few months it will be better and I'll be fine."
Collated first round scores in the Masters Tournament at Augusta National on Thursday:-
(USA unless stated, par 72):
68 - Bill Haas
69 - Adam Scott (AUS), Bubba Watson , Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
70 - Kevin Stadler, Marc Leishman (AUS), K J Choi (KOR), Jimmy Walker, Gary Woodland, Brandt Snedeker, Jonas Blixt (SWE)
71 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Matteo Manassero (ITA), Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Fred Couples
72 - Bernhard Langer (GER), Nick Watney, Steve Stricker , Graeme McDowell (NIR), Sang-moon Bae (KOR), John Senden (AUS), Kevin Streelman
73 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Matt Kuchar, Stewart Cink , Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Russell Henley, Mike Weir (CAN), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Boo Weekley, Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Lee Westwood (ENG), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Patrick Reed
74 - Brendon De Jonge, Steven Bowditch (AUS), Darren Clarke (NIR), Harris English , Matthew Jones (AUS), Webb Simpson , Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Hunter Mahan , Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP), Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia (ESP), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Roberto Castro , Larry Mize
75 - Chris Kirk, Scott Stallings , Joost Luiten (NED), Lucas Glover , Martin Kaymer (GER), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Jason Day (AUS), Keegan Bradley, Vijay Singh (FIJ), Mark O'Meara, Ernie Els (RSA), Ken Duke, John Huh, Billy Horschel
76 - Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (ENG), Oliver Goss (AUS), (x) Garrick Porteous (ENG), Ian Poulter (ENG), Sandy Lyle (SCO), Derek Ernst, (x) Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)
77 - Dustin Johnson, Matthew Every, Ian Woosnam (WAL), Luke Donald (ENG), Ryan Moore, Y.E. Yang (KOR)
78 - Peter Hanson (SWE), D.A. Points , Zach Johnson , Tom Watson , Michael McCoy, Angel Cabrera (ARG), David Lynn (ENG)
79 - Trevor Immelman (RSA), Tim Clark (RSA)
80 - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Jason Dufner, Chang-woo Lee (KOR), Graham Delaet (CAN)
81 - Jordan Niebrugge
82 - Craig Stadler
83 - Ben Crenshaw
84 - Branden Grace (RSA)