A little water never hurt anybody. Paul Azinger, who shot a 72, hits his shot from Rae's Creek on No. 13.
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Here's how the rookies fared Thursday:
Aaron Baddeley, 77: Playing in Woods' threesome, rallied from 7-over with birdies at 15 and 16.
Notah Begay III, 74: Bogeyed 16 and 18.
Angel Cabera, 74: Shot 39 on the back, including a double-bogey at 13.
Brent Geiberger, 76: Included a double-bogey at 12.
David Gossett, 75: Good, considering he had two double-bogeys.
Hunter Haas, 80: Had been even through five holes; double-bogeys at 6 and 12.
Padraig Harrington, 76: Never got anything going; just one birdie.
Skip Kendall, 76: Disappointing afer being even through 11. Double-bogeys at 12 and 18.
Sung Yoon Kim, 75: It could have been better until a double-bogey at 18.
Paul Lawrie, 79: Never in it; double-bogey at 12 and bogeys at 17 and 18.
Dennis Paulson, 68 Career day for first-round leader.
Graeme Storm, 83: Consistent -- 41 on the front, 42 on the back.
Jean Van de Velde, 76: Bogeys on three of the four par-3s.
Mike Weir, 75: Double-bogey on 11 and a bogey at 18.
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Slip sliding away
What Augusta National giveth, it just as quickly taketh away.
Just ask Lee Janzen, Craig Stadler and Greg Norman, who watched promising rounds wither faster than David Duval on his diet.
But please don't ask Ernie Els.
Janzen was 2-under on the front nine, then played the next five holes in 6-over, including a double-bogey at the par-3 12th. He shot 42 on the back -- capped off with a bogey on 18 -- and finished with a 76.
Stadler was 3-under and at the top of the leaderboard after a birdie at No. 13. But Stadler took a quadruple-bogey 9 at the 15th, putting a pair of balls in the water in front of the green -- the first from 97 yards the second from 85.
"Laid sod right over two in a row," Stadler said. "Don't know how the hell I got the third in there."
Norman shot 43 on the back nine, as did Seve Ballesteros. Ben Crenshaw, Corey Pavin, Brian Watts, Fuzzy Zoeller and Tim Herron shot 41; Fred Couples 40, along with Skip Kendall and Paul Lawrie. Only 11 players broke par on the way back to the clubhouse.
But no one was madder than Els, who was 3-under and leading through 14 holes. He took a double-bogey at 15 when he hit his approach shot into the water. He says he had some help.
"You're in the lead at The Masters and you're got some idiot rules official telling you you're out of position. We asked if we had a bad time. The official (John Pardmore) said no. I thought it was uncalled for. They timed all of us on 15. I rushed a shot and hit it in the water."
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Dennis Paulson warning: The last time a first-round leader went on to win the tournament was 1984, when Ben Crenshaw shot 67 on Thursday, then beat Tom Watson by two shots.
Jack Nicklaus parred the first 15 holes as part of a legendary trio. He finished at 2-over 74, while Gary Player shot 76 and Arnold Palmer a 77. They will play as a threesome again on Friday.
Tommy Aaron, 63, played a remarkable round. He was under par most of the round before finishing with an even-par 72.
Youngster Aaron Badelley shot 38 on the front nine, then double-bogeyed both 10 and 11 and bogeyed the 12th. He finished at 5-over.
Rocco Mediate got to 3-under with an eagle at the 350-yard par-4 third hole. He hit a pitching wedge in from 115 yards. "It was as much a shock to me as to anybody," he said.
There was another eagle on a par-4 -- amateur Danny Green holed his second shot at No. 9. The par-5 13th hole surrendered four eagles.
Doug Ford, the 77-year-old former champion, shot a 12-over 48 on the front side and finished with a 22-over 94 -- one shot better than the worst round ever in Masters history. He later withdrew.
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OVERHEARD
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MICKELSON
On how the field thinks about Tiger Woods: "No matter where he's at, we're still looking at what he's going to shoot. He obviously has the ability to go out (Friday) and shoot 66 and get back right in the tournament." |
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PAULSON
On being new at Augusta: "The first tee was special. Hit a great drive and got a tear in my eye. Horrible swing on my second shot ... I said enough reminiscing and nostalgia, you're going to get buried if you don't do some work and play golf." |
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LEHMAN
On winning: "I think any major's a great victory, and to win this one would be the thrill of a lifetime. This tournament and the U.S. Open are probably the two biggest ones for me. I'd love to win these two more than any others." |
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MEDIATE
On the "new" Augusta National: "It's so easy to start rumors about this place. It's the same golf course. It's just a little longer because people are getting longer and stronger. It's not 1,000 yards longer; it's a couple yards longer. |
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David Duval knows Augusta National's course changes won't affect his play.