Masters 2012 Pairings: Breaking Down the Tandems on Day 2
The first round of play at The Masters is in the books and the leader after Round One is Lee Westwood at five-under-par.
It's the first time in Westwood's distinguished career that he leads after an opening round in a major. His 67 ties for his lowest round ever at The Masters and has now played eight of his last nine rounds under par.
His group, which features veterans Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk, was the best scoring threesome collectively at nine-under. Singh, the 2000 Masters winner and three-time major champ, and Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champ, both shot two-under 70.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Following these performances, they should be the featured group tomorrow. They will be Group 11.
Another group who performed well collectively was the one with Rory McIlroy (71), Bubba Watson (69) and 2009 champ Angel Cabrera (71).
McIlroy started with a double-bogey but recovered to finish with two consecutive birdies. Cabrera was at two-under for most of the back-nine while Watson was ripping the ball all day long.
This is a fun group to watch, they will be Group 15.
The tournament favorite, Tiger Woods, started horrible and was miserable driving all day. He was able to hang on and shot an even-par 72 which certainly places him with striking distance.
On his group, veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a three-under 69 and is right in the mix. The veteran played a very intelligent round on his first Masters after the death of his close friend, two-time Masters champ Seve Ballesteros.
They will be on the second-to-last group tomorrow.
Louis Oosthuizen and Peter Hanson both shot a four-under 68 today and are tied for second place.
Oosthuizen is part of Group 5 and he will play with 2010 U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell (75) and Mark Wilson (76), who missed the cut on his only try last year.
Hanson is on the same group as Phil Mickelson (74) and Hunter Mahan (72).
They say you don't win The Masters on the first day, but you can certainly lose it and Mickelson almost put himself out of contention today. He hit only five fairways but was able to birdie two out of the last four and is back in play.
He has a steep hill to climb but if someone can do it is Mickelson. They will be on Group 16.
The world's No. 1, Luke Donald, just couldn't find himself today. The course was playing very long and that certainly didn't fit Donald who shot a three-over 75.
He needs to get a hot round tomorrow to start positioning for the weekend. He will be on the last group of the day which includes Francesco Molinari, who shot a three-under 69.
Other groups to keep a close eye on will be Group 23 (12:14 p.m.) and Group 30 (1:31 p.m.).
Group 23 comprises veterans Steve Stricker, Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink, who all played well and shot a one-under 71.
And on Group 30 you have defending champion Charl Schwartzel (72) and PGA champion Keegan Bradley (71) who should be poised to move up the leaderboard.
Weather should be a factor tomorrow. The forecast calls for thundershowers tonight and some morning showers tomorrow.
This could mean that the early scheduled threesomes will have to deal with the wet course and the possible windy conditions. It should clear by midday and be gorgeous conditions in the afternoon.
This might affect the leaders who have early morning tee shots. Westwood (9:40 a.m.), Oosthuizen (8:34 a.m.) and even Hanson (10:46 a.m.) could be affected by this.
The same goes for Mickelson (10:46 a.m.) who needs a fast start to turn his fortunes around and regroup quickly on the second round.
Two top players that can benefit from a late start would be Woods and Donald, since they will be playing in the last two groups.
For your reference, here is the complete listing of threesomes and tee times for Friday's second round:
Group 1 - 7:50 a.m. | ||
Scott Verplank (+1) | Sean O’Hair (+1) | Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (+2) |
 Group 2 - 8:01 a.m. | ||
Mark O’Meara (WD) | Chez Reavie (+7) | Martin Laird (+4) |
Group 3 - 8:12 a.m. | ||
Sandy Lyle (+14) | Simon Dyson (+6) | Corbin Mills [a] (+2) |
Group 4 - 8:23 a.m. | ||
Ian Woosnam (+5) | Edoardo Molinari (+3) | Kevin Chappell (-1) |
Group 5 - 8:34 a.m. | ||
Louis Oosthuizen (-4) | Mark Wilson (+4) | Graeme McDowell (+3) |
Group 6 - 8:45 a.m. | ||
Zach Johnson (-2) | Ian Poulter (E) | Patrick Cantlay [a] (-1) |
Group 7 - 8:56 a.m. | ||
Kevin Na (-1) | Fredrik Jacobson (+4) | Ben Crane (-3) |
Group 8 - 9:07 a.m. | ||
John Senden (+2) | Jonathan Byrd (E) | Paul Casey (+4) |
Group 9 - 9:18 a.m. | ||
Bernhard Langer (E) | Jason Dufner (-3) | Charles Howell III (E) |
Group 10 - 9:29 a.m. | ||
Mike Weir (E) | Brandt Snedeker (E) | Webb Simpson (E) |
Group 11 - 9:40 a.m. | ||
Vijay Singh (-2) | Lee Westwood (-5) | Jim Furyk (-2) |
Group 12 - 10:02 a.m. | ||
Thomas Bjorn (+1) | Scott Stallings (-2) | Rory Sabbatini (E) |
Group 13 - 10: 13 a.m. | ||
Fred Couples (E) | Darren Clarke (+1) | Ryo Ishikawa (+4) |
Group 14 - 10:24 a.m. | ||
David Toms (+1) | K.J. Choi (+5) | Sergio Garcia (E) |
Group 15 - 10:35 a.m. | ||
Angel Cabrera (-1) | Rory McIlroy (-1) | Bubba Watson (-3) |
Group 16 - 10:46 a.m. | ||
Phil Mickelson (+2) | Hunter Mahan (E) | Peter Hanson (-4) |
Group 17 - 10:57 a.m. | ||
Craig Stadler (+9) | Brendan Steele (+4) | Tim Clark (+1) |
Group 18 - 11:08 a.m. | ||
Jose Maria Olazabal (+3) | Robert Garrigus (+5) | Randal Lewis [a] (+9) |
Group 19 - 11:19 a.m. | ||
Larry Mize (+4) | Paul Lawrie (-3) | Anders Hansen (+4) |
Group 20 - 11:30 a.m. | ||
Ross Fisher (-1) | Ryan Palmer (+3) | Harrison Frazar (+1) |
Group 21 - 11:41 a.m. | ||
Ben Crenshaw (+4) | Robert Karlsson (+2) | Bryden Macpherson (+5) |
Group 22 - 11:52 a.m. | ||
Adam Scott (+3) | Bo Van Pelt (+1) | Martin Kaymer (E) |
Group 23 - 12:14 p.m. | ||
Steve Stricker (-1) | Padraig Harrington (-1) | Stewart Cink (-1) |
Group 24 - 12:25 p.m. | ||
Aaron Baddeley (-1) | Kyung-Tae Kim (+2) | Lucas Glover +3() |
Group 25 - 12:36 p.m. | ||
Kyle Stanley (+3) | Jason Day (+4) | Bill Haas (E) |
Group 26 - 12:47 p.m. | ||
Trevor Immelman (+6) | Rickie Fowler (+2) | Justin Rose (E) |
Group 27 - 12:58 p.m. | ||
Tom Watson (+5) | Johnson Wagner (+7) | Hideky Matsuyama [a] (-1) |
Group 28 - 1:09 p.m. | ||
Matt Kuchar (-1) | Geoff Ogilvy (+2) | Y.E. Yang (+1) |
Group 29 - 1:20 p.m. | ||
Gary Woodland (+1) | Henrik Stenson (-1) | Alvaro Quiros (+6) |
Group 30 - 1:31 p.m. | ||
Charl Schwartzel (E) | Keegan Bradley (-1) | Kelly Kraft [a] (+2) |
Group 31 - 1:42 p.m. | ||
Tiger Woods (E) | Miguel Angel Jimenez (-3) | Sang-Moon Bae (+3) |
Group 32 - 1:53 p.m. | ||
Luke Donald (+3) | Francesco Molinari (-3) | Nick Watney (-1) |
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
