Masters Notebook: One bad hole costs Conners, putter lets Woods down

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Corey Conners had one bad hole Thursday at Augusta National.

And now the Canadian will have lots of ground to make up as he looks to chip away at the leaders over the next 54 holes at the Masters.

Conners, who came into this week after three straight top-10 finishes at the first major of the year, shot a first-round 73. He’s eight back of the co-lead held by Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, and Brooks Koepka.

Conners righted the ship after two bogeys in his first three holes making three birdies in a six-hole stretch. But he made a mess of the par-5 15th, mishitting his approach and chipping into the water.

Conners called what happened on No. 15 an “execution error.” The ball flew a lot further than he expected, he said. 

“I hit it over the green. Tried to bump (the chip) up the hill and just trickle it on the green, got a funny bounce and raced into the water and tried the same shot and almost did it again,” said Conners with a smile.

“Got kind of lucky that it didn't go in the water again.”

Conners stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 12th and two-putted on the par-5 13th for back-to-back circles on his scorecard. After the double-bogey seven on No. 15 he couldn’t add any more birdies and came in with an over-par score after a bogey on No. 18.

“I hit plenty of good shots, didn't really capitalize on any chances and just a few sloppy ones there, kind of missing the green with some short irons on the last two holes,” said Conners, who hit only 12 of 18 greens on Thursday.

“A little disappointing, but yeah, it was close. I felt, like I said, I hit a lot of good shots.”

Conners won the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open on Sunday and came into this week focused on winning again. Fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes said Wednesday there are plenty of factors that go into winning a major, including getting the right breaks.

“I’m sure Corey, the last few years… a couple of nice breaks here or there (at Augusta) and all of a sudden, coming down the last nine, he’s a couple shots closer and has a little more legitimate chance to win (than finish top 10),” Hughes said.

Conners didn’t get the break he needed on 15 on Thursday. He said he felt like he needed to take advantage of the start given the mostly benign conditions and extremely poor weather inbound over the weekend and will need to have a low one Friday in order to make up ground on the leaders.  

But he came into the week with plenty of confidence and a good game plan. Now it’s time to execute.

“I hit plenty of good shots, didn't really capitalize on any chances and just a few sloppy ones there,” said Conners. “I think if I give myself a few better chances, I’ll get some rolled in.”

SVENSSON MAKES HIS MAJOR DEBUT

Canadian Adam Svensson made his major-championship debut Thursday at the Masters and had a few solid moments – including a nice birdie on the iconic par-3 12th.

Svensson, of Surrey B.C., shot 3-over 75. He bounced back after making six bogeys in an eight-hole stretch with four birdies on his back nine to get some momentum heading into Friday.

“Just kept grinding,” Svensson said of his back-nine turnaround. “Had a bunch of three-putts there, and just a little shaky off the start. But it's a tough golf course. I just kind of started to play a little bit better.”

Svensson said it was difficult for him to get adjusted to how fast the greens became from his practice rounds to Thursday’s opener. He admitted, too, that he wasn’t nervous but excited for his major debut and “got a little ahead” of himself.

Still, he found the fairway on No.1, and he was off to the races after that.

“It was awesome. I was a little nervous and plunked it right down the middle. It was exciting,” said Svensson. “I enjoyed the whole day.”

TIGER WOODS STRUGGLES

Tiger Woods needed 32 putts Thursday at Augusta National en route to a 2-over 74 and blamed the flatstick for his struggles on an otherwise idyllic scoring day.

“I didn’t have very good speed early,” said Woods. “I didn’t give myself very good looks. Need to do a better job of that going forward and hopefully get myself back in this tournament.

“Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it.” 

Off the tee Woods was fine – averaging over 300 yards per pop – and hit 10 of 14 fairways. But he only hit 13 greens and considering Augusta National has been long-known as a second-shot golf course, that was a problem.

Woods talked specifics to his day – there were bogeys on Nos. 3, 5, 7, and 11, plus a disappointing closing bogey on 18, plus gave insights on the changes to the par-5 13th – but kept it tight when talking about his health.

“Sore,” he said, when asked about his leg.

“It’s constant,” Woods said, when asked about the pain.

Now he’ll have to get ready to do it all over again on Friday. 

RAHM BOUNCES BACK

The bad news for Jon Rahm is that he four-putted the first hole Thursday.

The good news is that he only needed 59 strokes the rest of the way.

Rahm shot a 7-under 65 and is tied for the lead with Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka after the first round. Rahm, who made a double bogey on the par-4 1st, bounced back with two straight birdies before making eagle on No. 8. He added four more birdies on the back nine.

“If you're going to make a double or four-putt or anything, it might as well be the first hole, 71 holes to make it up,” said Rahm. “If there's ever a good time to shoot a low score – obviously Sunday would be the best if you're somewhat close – but […] we don't know how the week is going to unfold, I'm definitely happy I started this way.”

Rahm has already won three times on the PGA Tour this season.

WEIR STANDS ALONE

Mike Weir, celebrating the 20th anniversary of his Green Jacket victory, was left to play the final nine holes of his opening round by himself after playing partner Kevin Na withdrew due to illness on the 10th tee.

“I can’t remember the last time I played as a single,” said Weir. “So that was a strange back nine.”

Weir, to his credit, shot an even-par 72 and the 2003 Masters winner was pleased with his day. He is the low Canadian after 18 holes at Augusta National.

“I played really well. Seventy-two is a nice score. That could have been a really, really good score today,” said Weir. “I drove it well. I made some nice putts to get the round going early, maybe a 6- or 7-footer on No. 1 for par and another one on No. 3. So that was some nice momentum early, and then I just played really well the rest of the day.”

Weir, 52, said he used to try to get out first when he was younger for practice rounds, but, with a laugh, he said his rounds on PGA Tour Champions start at a “more civil” time.

The Canadian admitted he had to try to slow down his process when Na headed back into the clubhouse.

“The biggest thing is just getting the pace right of your walk and not kind of getting too caught up in my own game and just kind of having a laugh with my caddie and just kind of enjoying it. That's the approach I look,” said Weir.

Weir finished about an hour before the next-closest group.

Officials from Augusta National confirmed to Sportsnet that Weir will be paired with a non-competing marker for his second round. 

Weir is set to tee off at 10:36 a.m. ET. All tee times were moved up 30 minutes due to the threat of inclement weather.