Masters 2015 Results: Biggest Winners and Losers from Day 1
The first day of the 79th Masters is in the books, and as usual, there were plenty of noteworthy moments in the opening round.
Young Jordan Spieth lived up to pre-tournament expectations and then some, while old pro Ernie Els exceeded them. Many others fell somewhere in between.
"Eight-under here is nothing to complain about," Spieth told reporters afterward (H/T Associated Press via The Washington Post). "Just in the zone and hitting some shots. I saw the scoreboard and tried to make a push."
His push left several great players in his dust. But this is far from over. There are plenty of players within striking distance, and Spieth still has a long way to go to finish the job he started Thursday.
So with no further ado, here are the biggest winners and losers from Day 1 at the 2015 Masters.
Winner: Jordan Spieth
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Spieth came in as one of the pre-tournament favorites along with Rory McIlroy.
And while McIlroy wasn't terrible, finishing with a one-under 71 that certainly keeps him in contention, Spieth was nothing short of spectacular while carding an eight-under 64 to seize the lead after the opening round.
For much of Thursday, the 21-year-old Spieth flirted with the Augusta National course record of 63. Spieth made nine birdies and was guilty of just one bogey in his round. To put that into perspective, the last player to make nine birdies in a round in the Masters was Tiger Woods in the second round in 2011.
Spieth made a birdie from two feet on the par-four 14th to get to eight under Thursday, stirring up the possibility of him becoming the first to shoot 62 in a major championship. But then he made a rare mistake when he sailed the green with his second shot on the par-five 15th, failed to reach the green with his third and then three-putted for bogey, giving a stroke back.
Spieth added his final birdie on the 18th hole from 20 feet, capping arguably the finest day of his young career and making him, and us, wonder what lies ahead from him over the final three rounds.
Loser: Tiger's Yips
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Yes, Tiger Woods was back. More importantly, so was Tiger's short game.
Playing his first competitive round of golf since February, when he took time off to address the yips that had suddenly corrupted his once-superhuman short game, Woods needed to be on the green on Thursday because enough of his other shots weren't going where he wanted them to go.
It could be argued that his short game saved him from disaster.
He still had problems, but that was to be expected from someone who had played a total of just 47 holes of competitive golf this season. Mostly by chipping well and dropping a few putts, he was able to salvage a one-over score of 73 that featured four bogeys and three birdies and left us all wanting to see if he can do more over the weekend.
Winners: Old Guys from America
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Playing in what he has declared his final Masters, two-time champion Ben Crenshaw shot a 19-over 91 on Thursday. But who cares?
Crenshaw, one of the most beloved players the game has ever known, had made the cut in only three of the last 19 Masters he played and not since 2007. The course is much longer than it played when Crenshaw won the tournament in 1984 and again in 1995, and no one really expected him to score well.
He is in this for a couple of well-deserved, 18-hole walks down memory lane.
''You know how special this place is,'' Crenshaw told reporters (H/T Associated Press via FoxSports.com). ''I love everything about it. Always have.''
Besides, there was another old guy from America who did enough for both of them Thursday. That was Tom Watson, now 65, who made four birdies and registered a first-round score of one-under 71 that tied him with, among others, 36-year-old defending champion Bubba Watson. The elder Watson, who won the Masters in 1977 and 1981, now stands in great shape to possibly become the oldest player to ever make the cut at the storied tournament, a huge feat considering the drama surrounding him at the Ryder Cup last year.
"After the Ryder Cup, pain and bewilderment, it’s a miracle perhaps that Watson is willing to challenge both the game and those who rebuked him," Art Spander wrote here on Bleacher Report. "It would have been easier to withdraw and hide away. But that’s not Watson."
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Losers: Old Guys from Spain
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The old guys from Spain didn't fare nearly as well as the older guys from America on Thursday.
The always interesting Miguel Angel Jimenez put on his usual pre-round show on the practice range, stretching in a myriad of ways all while smoking a huge cigar. But once the round started, or at least once the back nine commenced, he didn't look as cool as usual.
Jimenez, 51, was even par after the front nine but fell apart on the back. Starting on No. 10, he went bogey, bogey, bogey, double-bogey, bogey, bogey and had to rally for a birdie on par-three 16th just to finish with a six-over 78.
He still fared better than fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, 49. Olazabal made six bogeys and two double-bogeys en route to a seven-over 79.
Winner: Justin Rose
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Justin Rose held a share of the lead with Charley Hoffman after the early wave of golfers completed their rounds on Thursday. And his five-under 67, which featured six birdies, remained good enough following the afternoon wave to keep him just three shots off the lead, tied not only with Hoffman but also with Ernie Els and Jason Day, who both shot 67s in the afternoon.
But now Rose has to do something with it.
This isn't the first time the 2013 U.S. Open winner has gotten off to a fast start at the Masters. Rose held at least a share of the first-round lead in 2004, 2007 and 2008 but faded from contention each time. His best finish in nine appearances at Augusta is the tie for 14th he registered last year.
Winner: Ernie Els
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Els, 46, offered no indication that he was going to get off to a fast start at the Masters.
In fact, Els missed the cut in four consecutive events earlier this year before finishing tied for 13th in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and then finishing tied for 57th in the Shell Houston Open. In 21 rounds he played in PGA Tour events prior to Thursday, he had broken 70 only four times.
But there he was in the opening round Thursday, at one point getting to six under and atop the leaderboard before settling for a five-under 67 that left him tied for second at the end of the day with Rose, Hoffman and Day, three shots behind tourney leader Jordan Spieth.
Els got to six under briefly with an eagle at the par-five 15th and held a share of the lead until he bogeyed No. 18 and Spieth, finishing behind him, surged to eight under.
Loser: Brandt Snedeker
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Snedeker was rolling along at two under through 11 holes until blowing up over a stretch of five holes on the back nine.
His troubles started with a bogey at the par-four 12th, deepened with a double-bogey six at the par-four 14th and didn't get any better when he also bogeyed the next two holes. Bottom line: He gave away five shots in five holes and needed to birdie the par-four 17th just to come in with a two-over 72.
That leaves him with plenty of work to do if he's going to contend for the green jacket he has coveted since he was a child.
"This is obviously the tournament I want to win more than anything else on the planet," he told Dan Climer of USA Today recently. "I make no secret of that. It drives me. It motivates me."
Winner: Jason Day
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Jason Day birdied five holes in a row on the back nine late Thursday to get to six under, alone in second place, heading into the 17th hole.
Then he ran into some trouble, bogeying the par-four 17th and having to scramble for par on the par-four 18th just to salvage a 67 that left him in a four-way tie for second, three shots behind Spieth.
Still, it was a great afternoon for Day, who certainly knows all about contending at Augusta. He had a one-shot lead in the Masters with three holes left to play in 2013, when he lost out on the green jacket to fellow Australian Adam Scott. And he finished tied for runner-up with Scott in 2011 to winner Charl Schwartzel.
Now he's got three rounds to see if he can finish better than he did on Thursday.
Loser: Mike Weir
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Canadian Mike Weir won a green jacket in 2003, but that was a long time ago.
He struggled almost right out of the gate Thursday, bogeying the second hole and the fourth and then taking a double-bogey six on the par-four fifth to fall to four over after just five holes. It didn't get any better from there. He added another double-bogey on the par-five 15th, taking a seven, and ended his round with seven bogeys, the two doubles and only one birdie for a 10-over 82.
In fairness to Weir, now 44, he has been battling a right-arm injury that impedes his swing and made a difficult course impossible for him to conquer on Thursday.
"It's just getting the strength and endurance in this [right] arm to last longer. It just seems to fatigue," Weir told Cam Cole of The Vancouver Sun after his career-worst round at Augusta. "In my mind I want to keep my swing short but the arm just keeps bending—and that's just the ligament and the strength in my forearm."
Winner: Charley Hoffman
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Charley Hoffman, 38, is having a busy and pretty solid start to his PGA Tour season.
He's won one tournament, the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, finished second in another and currently ranks seventh in FedEx points and 10th on the PGA money list with nearly $2 million in winnings.
And on Thursday, he was the clubhouse leader at minus-five, after the early wave of opening rounds was completed. Just hours after Hoffman surprised even himself by chasing down the autographs of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer on the practice range, he went out and shot a 67 to finish the day in a tie for second place.
Whatever happens the rest of the way, Hoffman has a couple of cool autographed Masters flags signed by Nicklaus and Palmer to auction off for a couple of Hoffman's favorite charities, per The Associated Press (via CBS New York).
"That was pretty cool," Hoffman told the AP. "I was sort of scared of them. 'Should I ask them? Should I not ask them?'"
If Hoffman keeps this up, they may be asking for his autograph in return on Sunday.
Joe Menzer has written six sports-related books and loves to golf, even though he's not very good at it, when he's not writing about it and other sports for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @OneMenz.
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