With Glory’ first shot under way, the sunshine that beats down onto the Augusta greens looks on enviously as every piece of grass looks as though it has been cut individually with a pair of scissors. On the opening day of the Masters 2016, it might come down to planning, fortitude and will that will prevail for glory’s first shot.
With the first tees to officially to be taken by two of the three legends who dominated the sport during their beautiful, this year’s tournament was opened with a flourish by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player who struck their drives down the middle, it was a sight that rolled back the years for many in the crowd and perhaps one that will become less than usual as the years progress, especially as the leader of Arnie Army, Mr. Arnold Palmer, was reduced to watching the start as his poor health meant he was unable to take part this year.
Jordan Spieth began an excellent start to the defence of his prized trophy in this war of attrition against 88 other players, 88 players who were spoiling to stop the defending Masters Champion in any way legally possible, the type of defence that could prove shaky as he looked on towards Englishman Paul Casey as he hits his shot into the beautifully stunning par 3 green 16th into just a few feet of the hole. It was the sort of shot that could unnerve many a Master but Jordan Spieth is made of stern Dallas stuff and at the same hole, despite his tee shot going to the right of the hole and landing in the rough, he proves the watching audience in Augusta and on television wrong in their assumptions as he saves par from it to stay in the lead.
The British contingent have started with a sprint in this year’s competition with Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Justin Rose and even the young Matthew Fitzpatrick all having decent enough rounds to be not that far behind the Texan whirlwind of Jordan Spieth, not surprising as they are trying in force to become the first from this side of the Atlantic to win the coveted Masters since Nick Faldo won it in 1996.
Not everybody had good fortune on the opening day, Bubba Watson struck his ball into the trees at the Par 4 11th and could have seen his own personal ambitions wracked upon the Atlanta manicured lawns had he not excellently hooked to the right of the green and three putted for a bogey; it is this type of persistence that that drives his hunt for his third Green Jacket inside five years.
At the end of the first day, perhaps it was inevitable that Jordan Spieth took a two shot lead with a seismic six under par, it will truly take some heroic golf to match the Texan as he looks to consolidate his lead over the weekend.
Anthony Hall