Seventy, and all’s well with Tiger at Augusta National

By Rahul Banerji

The number 70 on Tiger Woods’ card after the first day at Augusta National should worry the rest of the US Masters field. It is a figure that makes him very happy even when he is five shots behind leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koeka.

But why so?

“I feel very good. I’ve shot this number and won four coats, so hopefully I can do it again,” said Woods on his Twitter handle. Actually, it is three times that he hit a first-day 70 and went on to win, in 1997, 2001 and 2002. It was still the quote of the day from Augusta.

Speaking after his round, Tiger pointed out, “Overall I felt my speed was really good all day. I felt like I played well and I did all the things I needed to do today to post a good number.”

In the way

Standing between the 43-year-old and the top of the leader-board are two-time winner Phil Mickelson (-5 and sole third), Ian Poulter and Dustin Johnson (-4 and tied fourth), and Justin Harding, Adam Scott, playing partner Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Kevin Kisner and Thailand’s ever-improving Kiradech Aphibarnrat (all -3 and tied sixth),

That leaves the four-time Masters champion knowing exactly what he needs to do. “We still have a long way to go. Tee off late tomorrow and the wind’s supposed to be up, so I have my work cut out for me the rest of the week and so does everyone else.”

His round had four birdies against two dropped shots.

Matching finish

At the top of the order, Koepka and DeChambeau matched each other down the ban nine with 5-under 31s with the latter birdieing his final four holes even as Koepka had the only blemish-free round on the day.

Meanwhile, Asian hopes ride on the burly Kiradech, who has hit a good space in his game brought in his best ever score at Augusta on Thursday.

The 29-year-old was 1-over after 12 holes before finishing strongly in the year’s opening major with an eagle followed by two successive birdies to better his previous best by one stroke.

Patience pays

Playing his third Masters, Kiradech said staying patient was key to his good start. “I’d been waiting for my first birdie,” said Kiradech, the first Thai to play full-time on the PGA Tour.

He turned things around with eagle from a pinpoint three iron approach into the par-5 13^th that landed 16 feet from the flag. A two-putt birdie at the next par-5 hole on 15, followed by an eight-foot birdie conversion on the par-3 16^th hole left him smiling.

“After my drive on 13, I ended up in the right rough but I had a good number. The greens are quite soft, so I could land it in the middle, into the slope, bring the ball down close to the flag,” said Kiradech, who finished T15 in 2016 and T44 last season in his first two starts at Augusta National.

Up and down

This season, Kiradech has made six cuts from 10 starts including top 5s at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and WGC-Mexico Championship.

A return to Augusta National brings good memories and he has been keeping himself relaxed in the company of friends, his fellow Thais and LPGA Tour stars Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, who caddied for him at the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday.

“I’m really happy with the way I started,” said Kiradech. “Three-under is not easy at all. You have to be solid every single shot, hole the putts. This course can hurt you a lot.”

Round 2 tee times (live on DSport from 12.30 am IST)

8:30 am: Sandy Lyle (Scotland), Michael Kim, Patton Kizzire

8:41 am: Trevor Immelman (South Africa), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Devon Bling

8:52 am: Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Stewart Cink

9:03 am: Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark)

9:14 am: Bernhard Langer (Germany), Matt Wallace (England), Alvaro Ortiz (Mexico)

9:25 am: Alex Noren (Sweden), Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick (England)

9:36 am: Vijay Singh (Fiji), Billy Horschel, Jovan Rebula (South Africa)

9:47 am: Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Shugo Imahira (Japan)

9:58 am: Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter (England), Matt Kuchar

10:09 am: Francesco Molinari (Italy), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spain), Tyrrell Hatton (England)

10:31 am: Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira (Japan)

10:42 am: Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day (Australia)

10:53 am: Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (England), Justin Thomas

11:04 am: Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey (England), Brooks Koepka

11:15 am: Andrew Landry, Adam Long, Corey Conners (Canada)

11:26 am: Ian Woosnam (Wales), Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway

11:37 am: Mike Weir (Canada), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Kevin O’Connell

11:48 am: Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Aaron Wise, Justin Harding (South Africa)

11:59 am: Danny Willett (England), Brandt Snedeker, Takumi Kanaya (Japan)

12:10 pm: Fred Couples, Si Woo Kim (Korea), J. B. Holmes

12:32 pm: Branden Grace (South Africa), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina), Lucas Bjerregaard (Denmark)

12:43 pm: Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Charles Howell III, Eddie Pepperell (England)

12:54 pm: Sergio Garcia (Spain), Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson (Sweden)

1:05 pm: Adam Scott (Australia), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Kyle Stanley

1:16 pm: Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Viktor Hovland (Norway)

1:27 pm: Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Marc Leishman (Australia)

1:38 pm: Tommy Fleetwood (England), Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland

1:49 pm: Tiger Woods, Haotong Li (China), Jon Rahm (Spain)

2:00 pm: Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith (Australia

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