The Masters, the first major championship of the year, kicked-off on Thursday at the Augusta National golf course and the first round did not go according to plan for a number of top players. The weather on the first day saw a lot of wind in the range of 20-30 mph and a lot of gust too. It blew golf balls some 6 feet on the greens as Adam Scott and defending champion Danny Willett were getting ready to putt.
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The 2017 Masters first round is set to be the toughest opening round at the Masters in 10 years but Charley Hoffman, who is on top of the leaderboard after the first round, did not struggle at all. The first round saw 11 under par players and if this windy weather continues during the second round too then there very well could be fewer players under par.
Rory McIlroy who needs only a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam rallied with three late birdies in a 72 and reigning champion Danny Willett started his defence with a double bogey and a bogey before fighting back to finish one-over par. World No.1 Dustin Johnson pulled out on the first tee after he could not recover in time for the start of The Masters after he injured his back on Thursday.
Here are five things we learnt after the first round of the 2017 Masters.
1. We might see a new champion at The Masters this year after defending champion Danny Willett finished the first round with 73 strokes. The odds have been heavily stacked against him this year despite Johnson withdrawing. He hit two birdies and an eagle after a disappointing start with the only dropped shots coming at the always-tough 11th and the last. Despite finishing outside the top 20, Willett was happy with his first round performance.
2. With World No.1 Johnson pulling out after a back injury, this becomes the second time in the last six years that an injury has kept Johnson from competing in The Masters. He withdrew from the tournament in 2012 with a back injury after he tried lifting a Jet Ski. Johnson joins Tiger Woods as the only other No. 1-ranked player in the world not to play The Masters.
3. Scoring was always going to tough in the first round of The Masters given the weather conditions but these harsh conditions were no problem for Hoffman at all. He made seven birdies over his last 11 holes for a 7-under 65 and his four shot lead was also the largest for the opening round at the Masters in 62 years. Hoffman has only previously claimed one top-25 finish at a major, tying for ninth at the 2015 Masters, but put together a remarkable round.
For lack of any better words, it was a dream. The putts started going in the hole - as simple as that sounds. I kept hitting my spots and in the wind I ended up getting 20 footers and I got some of them down the stretch," Hoffman said.
4. 2015 champion Jordan Spieth could already be out of the tournament after he made a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 15th hole despite that being the one of the four easiest holes at Augusta National in the Masters. Spieth made a similar mistake during last year's final round where he made a quadruple-bogey on the 12th hole. No Masters winner has ever made worse than 7 on a hole during the tournament and it's safe to say that Spieth will not be winning the tournament this year.
5. Mcllroy is looking to complete his career Grand Slam by winning his first Green Jacket but after a disappointing start at The Masters, the man from Northern Ireland might have to wait another year for that to happen. After a weak first nine when he barely scored a single hole for birdie, he got up and down on Nos. 10-12, made his first birdie at No. 13, rolled in another at No. 15 and then nearly aced No. 16. He is currently only three shots off second place and while winning the Grand Slam might be too much for him this year, he is not going to give up.
