On-Site Thursday 7:00 PM at The Masters (Holes 14,15,16)

Update at 7:00 PM:

Chad Campbell is the first round leader of the 2009 Masters Tournament. Trailing him by one stroke is Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan. Two strokes behind Campbell are Shingo Katayama and 50-year old 1987 Masters Champion Larry Mize. There are eight golfers three strokes out of the lead.

For the 96 golfers playing Augusta National today the 14th hole ranked 14th, the 15th hole ranked 16th and the 16th hole ranked 10th in difficulty.

No. 14 (440-yard par 4): Average of 3.82, 33 birdies, 48 pars, 14 bogeys, and one double bogey.

No. 15 (530-yard par 5): Average of 4.64, one eagle, 42 birdies, 44 pars, eight bogeys, and one double bogey.

No. 16 (171-yard par 3): Average of 3.04, 24 birdies, 47 pars, 22 bogeys and three double bogey.

6:51—Rory McIlroy drains a 15-footer to get back to even par in his first Masters. Anthony Kim missed from a closer distance to remain at three over par. Play is concludes for the day on Hole No. 16.

6:45—Anthony Kim hits the last tee shot on No. 16.

6:29—Tiger’s iron shot on the 16th hole, a par 3, covers the flag and checks up within 10 feet of the hole. Tiger will not be attempting the famous Tiger chip in today. No time to be playing around for a playful Tiger. He should save that for the kids back home. Tiger misses the deuce.

6:24—Threesome of Trevor Immelman, Adam Scott, and Danny Lee hit three great shots on No. 16. All around 10 feet can they match the trifecta of the Campbell/Allenby/Yang group? Scott, Lee miss can Immelman save face? He makes it from three feet and goes to 1-under par.

6:19—Anthony Kim and the 19-year olds Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, and Ryo Ishikawa, from Japan, tee off on No. 15. They are the last threesome of the day. The first round of the 2009 Masters Tournament is nearing completion with Chad Campbell leading at 6-under. Hunter Mahan bogeyed No. 18 and is tied with Jim Furyk in second place.

6:06—Tiger Woods is now on the tee at No. 15 at two under par for the day. He bombs it down the center of the fairway. He then elevates an iron from 195 yards, which lands behind the pin and stays the green leaving a makeable 15-footer for eagle. Not one other player was able to hit the green beyond the flagstick and hold the green, but Tiger did. Tiger putts but not like the Tiger we know and leaves it sadly short right. Tiger taps in for his third consecutive birdie and at 3-under is tied for 14th place.

Is there going to be a late Thursday Tiger charge?

6:02—Danny Lee, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, zones in on the 15th green as his second shot nearly goes in the pond in front of the 16th hole. His playing partner, and defending champion, Trevor Immelman lands his ball safely on the green with a 20-foot eagle putt remaining. Lee bumps it up onto the green and misses the 15-foot birdie putt. Immelman two putts for birdie.  

6:00—Kenny Perry birdies the 15th hole after bunkering his second shot. At 5-under par he is tied for fourth place, two strokes out of the lead.

5:49—Chad Campbell bogeys No. 18 to finish with a 65, 7-under-par, to become the leader in the clubhouse tied with Hunter Mahan who is playing the 18th hole.

5:36—Only five more threesomes remain to play No. 15, including Tiger Woods and the last young group of Anthony Kim, teenagers Rory McIlroy, and Ryo Ishikawa.

5:35—Zack Johnson, 2007 Masters Champion, nearly eagles No. 15 after reaching the par-5 green in two shots. In his 2007 victory he laid up on every par-5 in all four rounds. However today is a different day, with different weather, and different decision. Who says Augusta National is not very playable and exciting to follow?

It’s the weather stupid.

5:28—Threesome Y.E. Yang, Honda Classic champion, Robert Allenby, and Ryder Cup champion Hunter Mahan all put their tee shots to within 10 feet of the 16th hole. They have the best joint performance of the day. Mahan makes his putt to get to 7-under par and second place, one stroke behind Chad Campbell. Allenby and Yang follow with deuces of their own.

5:25—Chad Campbell bogeys No. 17 to fall back to 8-under, a two stroke lead over Jim Furyk in the clubhouse who shot a 66, good enough for 6-under par.

5:23—What is this practice day? Is everyone trying to duplicate Tiger’s famous chip-in on the 16th hole in his 2005 victory over Chris DiMarco?

Ben Crenshaw, two-time Masters champion, tries it from the grass strip between the water and left bunker. He almost holes it. With the hole location in the middle of the green, versus the Sunday back left location, it is nearly the same shot.

5:14—Ryder Cup champion Hunter Mahan lands his second shot on the green at No. 15, but it releases and rolls over the green and down the hill. He gets it up-and-down for his third birdie in a row and is at 6-under par.

Update at 5:10 PM:

No. 14 (440-yard par-4): Average of 3.81, 28 birdies, 38 pars, 11 bogeys and one double bogey.

No. 15 (530-yard par 5): Average of 4.69, one eagle, 30 birdies, 32 pars, eight bogeys and one double bogey.

No. 16 (171-yard par 3): Average of 3.02, 18 birdies, 35 pars, 18 bogeys and one double bogey.

5:00—Boo Weekley plays a Tiger-like shot on the 16 hole using the slope to roll the ball towards the hole. Only differences are Boo does it out of the bunker long left of the green, it does not go in the hole, and he gets booed—Boo Boo Boo! Plus he misses the par save. Playing partner Chad Campbell makes his par save to remain at 9-under par and is the leader by three strokes over Jim Furyk in the clubhouse.

4:55—Sean O’Hair sinks a 10-footer for two on No. 16 to go to 4-under and into a tie for fifth place.

4:45—Tournament leader Chad Campbell, after birdieing No. 14, takes a two-stroke lead and hits a high 3-wood from the 15th fairway. It bounces on the back of the green and releases down the bank. Campbell chips it up to tap it in for a birdie to go 9-under with three stroke lead. The Masters Tournament record score for 18 holes is 9-under, a 63. It was by Nick Price during the third round in 1986 and then it was matched by Greg Norman in the first round in 1996.  

4:31—Freddie Couples reaches the 15th green from 217 yards and rims out his eagle attempt. The birdie is his third in a row and gets him back to even par. Freddie hits an iron to land 15 feet in front of the pin, but misses the putt to settle for par on No. 16.

4:29—Chad Campbell deuces No. 12 and birdies No. 13 to go to 7-under par. With those two holes he takes the lead.

4:21—Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland  birdies 15 and 16 to get to 5-under par, one shot behind the leaders.

Update at 4:20 PM:

No. 14 (440-yard par-4): Average of 3.86, 22 birdies, 32 pars, 11 bogeys and one double bogey.

No. 15 (530-yard par 5): Average of 4.72, one eagle, 23 birdies, 26 pars, seven bogeys and on double bogey.

No. 16 (171-yard par 3): Average of 3.07, 12 birdies, 30 pars, 14 bogeys and one double bogey.

4:10—Aaron Baddeley birdies No. 15 to get to 3-under, three strokes behind clubhouse leader Jim Furyk.

3:57—Ian Poulter, at 2-under par hits an ugly shot, some would say a “lateral shot” to be right of the right greenside bunker. Tom Watson, two-time Masters champion, and Steve Wilson, 2008 US Mid-Amateur champion, both hit nice iron shots to be about 12 feet from the green. Poulter missed a 20-foot chip putt and bogeys the 16th. Watson and Wilson deuce it.

3:55—Padraig Harrington, winner of the last two Majors and three of the last six, bogeys the 15th hole. He does birdies the difficult par-4 on 17 however, and posts a 69, 3-under par.

3:54—Todd Hamilton makes a bomb for a deuce on No. 16

3:53—Jim Furyk, 2003 US Open champion, posts a six birdie, bogeyless, round of 66 to take the clubhouse lead in the first round of the 2009 Masters.

3:37—Larry Mize hits a masterful tee shot on No. 16. Its high into the right side of the green. It the releases down to the hole leaving a 10-foot birdie putt to tie Furyk. He leaves it short, although dead on.

3:30—Larry Mize, 1987 Masters champion in a dramatic playoff victory over Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, went over the 15th green with his approach iron. He makes a nice up-and-down to save a par. He remains a co-leader at 5-under par with Jim Furyk, Chad Campbell, and Shingo Katayama.

3:28—Jim Furyk catches fire on the back nine, birdieing four straight holes, No. 14 through 17, to take the lead in the Masters at 6-under par. He shot a 34, 2-under par, on the front nine with birdies on holes two and nine.

3:18—Mike Weir, 2003 Masters champion, birdies the 18th hole to shoot 4-under, a 32, on the back nine and finish with a 68, 4-under par.

At 2:30 PM ET Shingo Katayama and Chad Campbell are leading the Masters at 5-under par with all groups on the course. Some golfers have finished for the day including Wednesday's Par-3 Contest winner Tim Clark, who shot 4-under with 68.

The 530-yard, par-5, 15th hole is playing slightly under at an average score of 4.81, with one eagle, 12 birdies, 18 pars, five bogeys and one double bogey. The hole location is back and to the right bringing the bunker on the right into play. Any approach shot not hitting the green is a difficult up-and-down.

Roughly a third of the field so far have attempted to reach the green in two shots. Three golfers, including Chez Reavie, in the first group. Lee Westwood and Justin Rose, in the last two groups, have put it in the water.

The three golfers have done it in different ways. Reavie laid up and on his third shot hit the green, but it spun back and rolled into the water. Westwood long iron's the second shot, causing it to splash directly into the pond. Justin Rose overpowered the hole carrying the green and ending up in the far pond on the par-3 16th hole.

There have been three eagle putts. Luke Donald put it the closest and converted his short putt for eagle. Prayad Marksaeng and Stephen Ames missed and had to settle for a two-putt birdie.

Most players are hitting a 7-iron on the 171-yard par-3 16th hole. The average score is slightly over par at 3.03. There have been seven birdies, 19 pars, six bogeys and one double bogey. Justin Leonard is the double bogey and the only golfer to hit it in the water.

The hole location is nine feet off the left water’s edge and in the middle of the green. Drawing tee shots hitting the upper right side of the green are releasing down to the hole.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]