Tee it Up!

Always a sure sign of spring is the opening round of the Masters in Augusta, Georgia. If you are from a northern province, it is more like summer instead of spring, 23 and sunny was the weather today.

The day started with the opening of the ropes at about 7:30am and all the patrons rushed to their favourite spots. Then at approx. 7:54am Arnold Palmer teed it off for the appreciative crowds. Of the early groupings there were some low scores, that were due to favourable pin placements and no wind on the course. As the afternoon progressed the winds picked up, and affected scores a little, but some golfers managed to tame Augusta National all the same.

The clubhouse leader after day 1 is Chad Campbell. Campbell carded a seven under 65. He started his round with 5 straight birdies, then had another 4 straight on the back nine before bogeying 17 and 18. Former Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk is tied for second with Hunter Mahan at -6. Furyk finished strong birding 4 of the last 5 holes.

The other notables including Canadian Mike Weir, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and defending champion Trevor Immelman are all still in the hunt anywhere from 5 to 6 shots back.

Other story lines of the day included the incredibly slow play and the large crowds. Instead of the normal 4 hour rounds, players were going from first tee to the clubhouse in just over 5 hours. This led to some fears that play might be called for darkness, which would have been the first time ever, not due to other weather (rain, lighting) related problems. Hopefully speed increases for the remaining rounds, otherwise patrons will need a third application of sunscreen. The fans roaming the course today were shoulder to shoulder which is a good sign since there had been a lot of talk in the media about a, down year on the secondary market for ticket sales due to the slumping US economy. It did not seem to be the case on Thursday. The real test will be Friday (Good Friday) and Sunday (Easter Sunday) to see if the crowd is still 10 deep around the 18th green.

Although the prediction did not make it to paper before Round 1 commenced, my pick to wear the green jacket on Sunday is Tim Clark. He is going to break the curse of the Par 3 Tournament (no one to win the par 3 tourney has ever won the Masters), and that will be the first curse breaking of many this year - think Billy Goat.