Fierce Augusta Forces Most of Field into Survival Mode

Apr 06, 05:21 AM

Current Headlines: By Steve Campbell, Houston Chronicle

Apr. 6--AUGUSTA, GA. -- So this is Augusta National unleashed, uncensored, unencumbered by ground-softening rains.

Birdies of all sizes, shapes and persuasions go on the endangered species list. Eagle sightings are only slightly more common than women in green Augusta National Golf Club members-only jackets.

A funereal air engulfed the first round of the 71st Masters. The sound of Thursday at Augusta National was uneasy silence. The 96 players grimaced, gritted their teeth and tried to grind out pars. With no rain on the Masters' horizon for the first time in 10 years, Augusta National is firm, fast and ferocious. And what does it feel like between the ropes under those circumstances?

"Survivor," Masters rookie Dean Wilson said.

Justin Rose and Masters novice Brett Wetterich came the closest to thriving. They shot 3-under-par 69s -- Rose somehow managing to not make a bogey while hitting only five of 18 greens -- the highest score by a first-round leader since 1999.

Fewer players broke par (nine) than shot in the 80s (12). When one of the biggest roars of the day is for Arnold Palmer teeing off as the ceremonial starter, it's a telltale sign that Augusta National is in a particularly ornery mood.

"Sure, you want big roars to go up," said 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem, who turned in a 71. "That's part of the lore about Augusta."

With wind whipping up to 10-15 mph, Augusta was a 7,445-yard chore. The 76.195 field scoring average was the fourth highest for a first round since Augusta National entered the age of Bentgrass in 1982. The greens were so treacherous, only 23 players made it through the round without three-putting at least once.

Color them trouble

"The greens were a different color," said former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, who shot 75. "They were getting bluer and crustier as the day went along."

Rose managed to get by on only 20 putts -- or 19 fewer than Camilo Villegas, who shot 80 in his Masters debut.

Hitting the greens is one thing. Hitting the greens and getting the ball to stop in a hospitable spot was another matter entirely. Vaughn Taylor described the task this way: "You feel like you have a small bucket to land it in, and if you don't, you're going to have a tough putt or chip."

And Taylor (71) was one of the thankful few who emerged on the right side of par.

"There are some spots you can stop it with a lofted club," two-time champion Ben Crenshaw said.

"But I don't hit any lofted clubs (into the greens). You feel like the course is going to get you somewhere. It doesn't matter who you are."

Lefty goes south

Defending champion Phil Mickelson shot 76, matching his worst score in 55 career rounds at the Masters.

Four-time champion Tiger Woods didn't make a birdie his first 12 holes and finished bogey-bogey to post a 73.

"You're happy to make pars out there," Wilson said. "You don't hear any roars out there. It's so tough."

The field produced 208 birdies -- and 536 bogeys or worse.

The 455-yard No. 1 gave the players a vivid idea of what to expect, yielding only two birdies, and there wasn't much relief in sight the next 17 holes.

"With the scoring the way it was," David Howell said, "there maybe weren't all that many good shots to be cheering for."

Howell (70) generated one of the few roars, stuffing a 3-iron approach into the par-5 No. 15 green to set up an eagle. Beem produced the only other eagle of the day, sticking a 5-wood to 15 feet at the par-5 No. 13 and making the putt.

"I think it woke up a few people," Beem said.

By the time the world's No. 5 player, Ernie Els, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he had double-bogeyed No. 1 and taken a three-putt bogey at No. 2 on the way to a 78. One of his playing partners, U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, triple-bogeyed the par-5 No. 2 and shot 75. From the first hole to the last, Augusta National had the world's best players in a defensive mode.

"I really like firm, fast conditions," Rose said. "I think that's what all us players really do like, when the course plays firm and fast and seems to ask the right questions."

Scott Verplank (73) said the greens were the fastest he has seen in 12 Masters appearances. Tim Herron (72) said the course "played like a Sunday with how firm it had gotten." Which raises the question: How fast and furious will the course be when Sunday comes?

"It might not be playable," Herron said. "If it stays like this, over par is going to win."

Fast and furious

Woods offered this weekend course forecast: "It's going to be pretty interesting." This is Augusta National in all its 7,445-yard glory. Unleashed. Uncensored. Unencumbered by the elements.

"We wish for firm, fast conditions, and the scoring average is about 76," Howell said. "So be careful what you wish for, I guess. It's that beautiful mix between the most beautiful place in the world to play golf and the most difficult. I think that's the great contradiction with Augusta, and why everybody loves it so much."

steve.campbell@chron.com

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