AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A brief look at the opening round of the Masters:
AT THE TOP: Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland shot rounds of 7-under 65 to sit atop the leaderboard, while Cameron Young and Jason Day were two shots back of them on a good day for scoring at Augusta National.
CHASING: Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was in a pack at 4 under that includes major winners Shane Lowry and Adam Scott, who is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Masters triumph. Xander Schauffele also was in that group.
LIMPING: Tiger Woods had just three birdies against five bogeys and opened with a 74, leaving the the five-time champion in danger of missing the cut at the Masters for the first time as a professional.
GOING LOW: U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett is also at 4 under after a pair of birdies and a chip-in eagle during his bogey-free round. It was the lowest by an amateur in a major since Hovland shot 67 in the final round of the 2019 U.S. Open.
GONE HOME: Will Zalatoris withdrew before his starting time with an injury; he herniated two disks in his back on a tee shot last year and wound up missing the rest of the season. Kevin Na also with drew after nine holes with an illness.
LIVE AND LET LIVE: Koepka led the LIV Golf contingent, which had just six of its 18 players under par. Among those were British Open champion Cameron Smith at 2 under and three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson at 1 under.
WALK AND TALK: In a surprise for TV viewers, the ESPN telecast had in-round interviews with Rory McIlroy and Max Homa on Thursday. CBS, which is producing the Masters, first broke out the technology at the Farmers Insurance Open.
HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS: The weather was hot and humid for the opening round, but rain is expected to move in Friday afternoon. It is expected to last into Sunday, and the forecast for the weekend calls for high temperatures in the 50s.
SHOT OF THE DAY: Rahm, who opened with a double bogey, stuck an 8-iron to 3 feet on the 18th for birdie to wrap up his round. It was his fourth birdie over the final six holes.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You look at the leaderboard, it’s very, very stacked right now. I mean, any one of those guys can win easily, and there’s big names on that leaderboard right now.” — Jason Day.
UP NEXT: All tee times Thursday were moved up 30 minutes because of the threat of rain, so Cameron Champ and Jose Maria Olazabal will lead off at 7:30 a.m. EDT.
TELEVISION: Friday, 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN).
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