Jason Day may have entered the Masters as the favorite, but Jordan Spieth is still the reigning champion and he reminded everyone of that today. The 22-year-old finished with a 66 and leads the field with a score of six-under par.
However, he's got Danny Lee and Shane Lowry, both of whom are four-under par, right on his tail. Lowry had a tremendous front nine and birdied five of his first eight holes, but he cooled off and finished one-over over his next 10 holes. Lee had an up-and-down front nine with three birdies and two bogeys before shooting a 33 on the back nine.
Spieth was the model of consistency on Thursday. He registered zero bogeys on the day and dispersed six birdies throughout his 18 hole journey, picking up right where he left off last year when he won the Masters wire-to-wire. He's now led in five straight rounds of the major tournament.
He wasn't lying earlier this week when he said he knew Augusta National really well.
Day, who started five-under on the front nine, endured a terrible back nine and carded one triple bogey, three bogeys and one birdie. He finished even and is tied for 21st with 12 others, including Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen.
And then there were the utmost struggles of the event as Ernie Els and Rickie Fowler were surprisingly bad in the first round of play.
On the first hole, Els six-putted from three feet away and carded a nine, which is the highest score on that hole in Masters history. He's now eight-over par, which is good for 81st, after adding three more bogeys, a double bogey and two birdies.
As for Fowler, the youngster probably won't have a chance to bolster his resume at this year's event. After starting one-under through his first six holes, Fowler logged four bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey in his remaining 12 holes and is also tied for 81st with Els.
The two will need a miracle tomorrow to make the cut and play through the weekend while Spieth and the other aforementioned players battle for supremacy atop the leaderboard.
Check out some highlights from the first round of the Masters here.
