Masters 2023: A Benign Augusta Allows Low Scores As Hovland, Rahm Koepka Share Lead

Masters 2023: A benign Augusta allows low scores as Hovland, Rahm Koepka share lead (Image Source: IANS)

The Augusta National Golf Club seemed to have kept its sharp bite for the latter stages of the tournament as it threw up low scores on the first day of the 87th Masters. A benign course with soft greens meant three players shared the lead with 65 each and there were 42 scores of par or better.

There was a three-way tie at the top with Viktor Hovland rising to the occasion in Tiger Woods' company and Jon Rahm showing he is a fighter to the core and Brookes Koepka once again emphasising his focus at the Majors. They shot 65 each on the first day of the 87th Masters.

However, at Augusta, the greens always become drier, faster and tougher as the week progresses. The weather is also expected to be rough over the next three days, as rains are expected in the second half of the second day.

There was a strong leaderboard with more than a few Major winners embellishing the scoreboard as former World No. 1 and 2015 PGA Championship winner Jason Day and the 2022 Open runner-up Cameron Young were tied for fourth with 67 each.

The big names at 4-under included the defending champion Scottie Scheffler lead the bunch at 4-under alongside former Gary Woodland, the US Open winner, Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open winner, Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele and amateur Sam Bennett.

Two names lying way down the leaderboard were Rory McIlroy, who just could not get things going and finished even par 72, while Tiger Woods was 3-over by the seventh but almost had an eagle on the eighth, where he got his first birdie. On the second nine, he had two birdies on the 15th and 16th, while he dropped shots on the 11th and 18th for a 74 and tied for 54th place. McIlroy had five birdies against three bogeys and a double bogey and was tied 37th.

Hovland, playing his fourth Masters and the top amateur in 2019, has been trending well since his win late last year at Tiger Wood's event, where he successfully defended the Hero World Challenge. This year Hovland, who has been fine-tuning his short game, was tied for third at the PLAYERS, behind Scottie Scheffler.

Hovland found his momentum with a 25-foot eagle on the second and then he kept climbing up with five birdies in eight holes between sixth and 13th. A couple of errors with bad tee shots, by his own admission, came on 14 and 15, but he did well to save par all the way to the finish for a clean card of 65.

Rahm, part of the current 'Big Three' alongside Scheffler and McIlroy, came back from a nightmarish start when he four-putted on the first. He then proceeded to claw his way back with birdies on the next two holes and when he added another birdie on the seventh and an eagle on the eighth, he was back in the mix at 3-under on the turn. He kept his foot on the pedal from 13th to 18th with four birdies in that stretch and closed at 65 two flights behind Hovland, Woods and Schauffele.

A little over an hour later, Koepka fresh from a win on the Saudi-backed LIV Tour but over 54 holes, showed that he is still excited by the Majors, of which he has won four. His last Major, however, was the 2019 PGA Championships, after which he has been through serious injury problems that made bending his knee very difficult. Now looking healthy and smiling, Koepka birdied four times on his first nine and then added a fifth on the 12th before dropping a bogey on the newly-redesigned Par-5 13th.

Rahm, part of the current 'Big Three' alongside Scheffler and McIlroy, came back from a nightmarish start when he four-putted on the first. He then proceeded to claw his way back with birdies on the next two holes and when he added another birdie on the seventh and an eagle on the eighth, he was back in the mix at 3-under on the turn. He kept his foot on the pedal from 13th to 18th with four birdies in that stretch and closed at 65 two flights behind Hovland, Woods and Schauffele.