Masters 2019 Leaderboard: Live Look at Thursday Scores and Overall Predictions
The opportunities are out on course at Augusta National Golf Club for some of golf's top players to take control of The Masters.
Through three hours of play in the first round, only a handful of golfers have been able to reach two-under, and only one player completed nine holes at two-under.
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are some of the high-profile names out on course at the moment, while Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and others will hit the course in the afternoon session.
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Defending champion Patrick Reed is one of the handful of top players out on course at the time of writing. Reed is looking to become the first back-to-back champion at Augusta since Woods in 2001 and 2002.
2019 Masters Leaderboard
Updated as of Noon ET.
Justin Harding (-2)
Louis Oosthuizen (-2)
Aaron Wise (-2)
Nine players tied at -1
Full leaderboard can be found here.
Overall Predictions
Spieth Bounces Back From Poor Form
One of the top stories coming into Augusta was the season-long struggles of Jordan Spieth, who hasn't landed in the top 20 of any tournament he has entered.
Spieth missed the cut at The Players Championship after a first-round 76, but he bounced back a bit with a tie for 30th at the Valero Texas Open.
While a 30th-place finish might not seem like much for an elite player like Spieth, he was able to record back-to-back rounds in the 60s to start the tournament.
That is a positive sign for the 2015 Masters champion, who has been one of the most consistent players at Augusta over the last four years.
Since donning the green jacket four years ago, Spieth tied for second in 2016, tied for 11th in 2017 and landed in third place in 2018.
In the last three years, Spieth has carded five rounds in the 60s at Augusta, including a final-round 64 a year ago.
Although he isn't in the best form, Spieth will find a way to rediscover it at one of his favorite courses to put his name in the discussion for the green jacket.
Spieth might not come out on top Sunday, but a strong collection of four rounds will set him on the right track of the rest of the season.
Reed Stays In Contention, But Fails To Repeat
Patrick Reed became the fourth consecutive player to win his first-career major at The Masters in 2018.
Since his triumph at Augusta, Reed experienced mixed results in major competitions, as he finished fourth at the U.S. Open, tied for 28th at The Open and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.
Reed has also produced mixed results this season on the PGA Tour, as he missed the cut at the Valspar Championship after shooting a final-round 78 at The Players Championship.
Reed's recent form suggests he won't be a fixture at the top of the leaderboard, but he is playing this weekend on a course in which he carded three rounds in the 60s in 2018.
The 28-year-old will benefit from his familiarity with Augusta to put together a decent few rounds and crawl up the leaderboard.
However, Reed won't be in the mix to repeat Sunday afternoon, as his recent poor form in final rounds haunts him again.
In his last three tournaments, Reed's best fourth-round score is a 73, and he only broke 70 once in the three final rounds he played at majors in 2018.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from PGATour.com.
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