Jordan Spieth at Masters 2016: Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction from Thursday
Jordan Spieth began his green-jacket defense in spectacular fashion Thursday at the 2016 Masters, as he shot a six-under 66 to enter the clubhouse with the lead following his first round of play.
The 22-year-old superstar carded six birdies and no bogeys en route to a dominant opening round. Here is a look at Spieth's scorecard from Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday:
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 |
| Round 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 33 |
| Score | E | E | -1 | -1 | -1 | -2 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -3 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Round 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 33 |
| Score | -4 | -4 | -4 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -5 | -6 | 66 |
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In addition to that, the following is a snapshot of the Masters leaderboard with full results available at PGATour.com:
It was clear early on that the talented Texan was in for a strong day, as he registered his first birdie on the par-four third after parring each of the first two holes.
That birdie continued a trend of excellence on the opening three holes at Augusta that Spieth started in 2014, according to ESPN Stats & Info:
Spieth set the tone for an impressive front nine with the birdie on No. 3, as he sunk two more birdie putts over the next six holes on the par-three sixth and par-five eighth.
He made the turn at three under, and per Sean Martin of PGATourHQ.com, that represented the second-best front-nine score of Spieth's career at the Masters:
While Spieth was in excellent form, ESPN.com's Jason Sobel pointed out he benefited from advantageous weather conditions by being among the first to tee off Thursday:
Spieth continued to separate himself from the rest of the field during the early portion of the back nine.
He sandwiched a pair of pars between birdies on the par-four 10th and par-five 13th to push his score to five under for the day.
Although Spieth made the course look fairly easy, many struggled mightily, including Ernie Els, who was essentially the antithesis of the 2015 Masters winner Thursday:
Birdies were a bit tougher to come by for Spieth down the stretch, but he remained steady with four consecutive pars from No. 14 to No. 17 before finishing his round on a high note with a birdie on the par-four 18th.
The fact that Spieth played such a clean round was consistent with what he has always done at Augusta, as evidenced by this stat, courtesy of GolfChannel.com's Justin Ray:
Spieth added another accolade to his impressive resume by easily besting Tiger Woods in total score through their first nine rounds at Augusta National:
Plenty can change before the end of the first round since Spieth had such an early tee time, but his opening round put him in position to make history after leading last year's Masters from wire to wire:
In addition to that, it has been a half-century since a defending champion led after one round of play:
Spieth's focus is likely solely on winning his second consecutive green jacket, but he has a chance to score another major prize should he keep up the form he displayed in the first round.
Per Sobel, a Masters victory could vault him back into the No. 1 worldwide ranking depending upon how Jason Day finishes:
Spieth has no control over Day or anyone else, but much like he did last year, he has a chance to render the rest of the field moot.
A four-stroke margin of victory will be difficult to match or surpass, but Spieth is on pace to set a new scoring record after tying Woods' mark of 18 under last year.
Spieth is currently performing at a level similar to Tiger in his prime, and Thursday's opening round suggests he is a threat to run away with the green jacket yet again.
Post-Round Reaction
Spieth's error-free first round set the standard for the rest of the field Thursday, and he was extremely pleased with his score in the face of some windy conditions:
While Spieth actually carded a better score in last year’s first round at the Masters, he was happier with Thursday’s performance, according to Chase Williams of Fox 4 in Dallas:
Spieth needs three more strong rounds before he can be called a repeat Masters winner, but he clearly has a special connection with Augusta National, and there is no question that his confidence level is through the roof.
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