A Round-Up of the Masters 2016 So Far

[caption id="attachment_2884" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Jordan Spieth US Masters on Thursday Image courtesy of: CHARLES LABERGE/AUGUSTA NATIONAL[/caption]

The tournament of champions is in full swing and the first round goes to Jordan Spieth as he leads the field with a 6-under score of 66 to take the lead for a fifth consecutive round at the Masters. He has followed his form from last year’s win and looks very strong going into the next three days.

The glorious Georgia sunshine graced the fairways of the 80th annual Masters tournament as it got under way on Thursday. The shot of the tournament quite possibly came before the first tee shot was even played, after Vijay Singh cast a spell on the 16th hole in the par 3 contest warm-up on Wednesday. The Fijian skimmed his ball across the water and sunk a hole-in-one. Pure class!

Vijay Singh with the most outrageous golf shot the #Masters has ever seen.... pic.twitter.com/AyEK648vUk
— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) April 6, 2016

Els makes Masters history

Another freak turn of events unfolded yesterday as former world number one, Ernie Els, carded the worst first hole in Masters history. Scoreboards originally indicated a 10 shot, sextuple bogey on the par four, but TV footage only showed six putts and it was later carded a nine. He managed to recover himself signing for an 8-over par 80 at the end of the day.

Who is more formidable, the wind or Jordan Spieth?

Although the sun was shining, the wind was gusting at full force and the players will have the elements to contend with alongside each other and Augusta’s tough grooves. It was an interesting first day as winds of over 30mph swept through the putting greens. Causing an array of problems; with Bubba Watson missing a par putt on 11 due to an untimely gust, Ian Poulter three putted twice and Rickie Fowler shot an 8-over 80. Paul Casey commented on the winds saying it was “one of the toughest days I’ve ever seen around Augusta National.” Who gladly claimed a 3-under score of 69.

[caption id="attachment_2888" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Danny Lee Masters 2016 Image courtesy of: SAM GREENWOOD/AUGUSTA NATIONAL[/caption]

No applause for Danny Lee

Korean-born New Zealander, Danny Lee put in an astonishing performance in just his second Masters start of his career. Carding a first round 4-under 68 to claim joint second spot on the leaderboard with Irishman Shane Lowry. Lee is fairly unheard of amongst golf patrons, saying he failed to hear a single clap after one of his six birdie putts “I was just waving at myself to the crowds”. They’ll have to take notice if his position on the leaderboard continues over the next three days.

The big three

After Spieth, there are only two players the bookmakers are looking at to make hay at Augusta. Rory McIlroy shot a 2-under 70 after being just two shots behind the lead until the 16th hole, where he made a three-putt bogey. He was slightly off form towards the end of the round putting it down to “a bit of a tired swing.” Bet makers certainly shouldn’t give up on McIlroy just yet though as he feels good going into the second round today, and if his training schedule is anything to go by, he’s ready for it!

Jason Day, current world No. 1 by OWGR played a great round, keeping 5-under going into the second half of his back nine. He then bogeyed the 15th, made a triple bogey at the 16th, closing his triple of bogey’s on the 17th. Day is concerned about the weather, commenting “If the conditions keep up … it’s very hard to keep pushing forward at the rate that obviously Jordan did today.”, but he didn't blame his poor finish on the wind as it was "terrible mechanics" he said. He finished with an even par of 72 among many other of the tournament’s top contenders; Mickelson, Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson and Henrik Stenson.

Who will lead the field at the end of play today? Going into the second round, the three balls look like this: