One round into the Masters, the tournament already feels like it’s Jordan Spieth’s to lose. The 24-year-old past Masters champion and three-time major winner singed the course Thursday afternoon, reeling off five straight birdies on the back nine to take a two-shot lead over fellow Americans Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.
His Augusta history makes that performance even more impressive. In his first three Masters appearances, as The Post’s Barry Svlurga noted during Thursday’s coverage, Spieth finished second, first and second. He has played 17 career rounds in the Masters. He has led alone or shared the lead after nine of them. That equals the number of Masters rounds Tiger Woods has led — and Woods has played this event 20 times. Spieth is appearing in just his fifth Masters.
“We build plans for the year to peak at certain times,” Spieth said after finishing the first round at 6 under par. “And I believe that not just here at Augusta, but the major championships going back a number of years, I’ve played really well.”
[ Boswell: Tiger Woods was back at the Masters, and golf just might have plenty more of him ]
Then consider the recent history of this tournament. The last 12 Masters winners were under par and in the top 10 after the first round, according to ESPN. That’s bad news for a host of big names, including Justin Rose (tied for 21st, even par), Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson (both tied for 29th, 1 over), Justin Thomas (tied for 42nd, 2 over), Jason Day (tied for 55th, 3 over) and Woods himself, who finished the first round of his Masters comeback seven shots back after a 1-over 73.
The last time the Masters winner wasn’t under par and in the top 10 after the first round was 2005, when Woods rallied from 2 over and a tie for 33rd to claim his fourth and most recent green jacket.
So who else finished in Thursday’s top 10? After Finau and Kuchar, there’s a seven-way tie at 3 under, three shots behind Spieth’s mark. That group includes a pair of Americans — Charley Hoffman and Patrick Reed, the latter of whom sparred with Spieth at a recent match-play event. There’s also a grab bag of international players: Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, Canadian Adam Hadwin, China’s Li Haotong, Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Rory McIlroy, other than Spieth the biggest name in the top 10. McIlroy, needing a Masters win to complete the career Grand Slam, birdied three of Augusta’s four par 5s in his opening round and had just a single bogey.
More stars lurk just outside the top 10, including three-time champ Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, still looking for his first major. But it’s hard to imagine Spieth won’t be the focus on Friday: In his four Masters appearances, he’s a combined 9 under par in the second round, with only one over-par round. He tees off at 10:53 a.m. Eastern in a group with Alex Noren and Louis Oosthuizen.
“If you get off to a good start,” Spieth said, “you’re in control of your own fate, versus needing some help.”
How to watch (all times Eastern)
- ESPN has live TV coverage from 3 until 7:30 p.m. Friday and on WatchESPN. On Thursday, the network also spent much of the morning and early afternoon providing tape-delayed footage of the event.
- CBS takes over on TV from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 2 to 7 p.m. (or the conclusion of play) Sunday. Its online coverage can be found at CBS AllAccess. The network will have a preview show (“On the Range”) 8:30-10:30 a.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday on CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com.
- CBSSports.com will also have live streams of featured groups, as well as coverage from Amen Corner (holes 11, 12, 13) and holes 15 and 16. Featured group coverage starts at 9:15 a.m. Friday; Amen Corner coverage begins at 10:45 a.m. and holes 15 and 16 coverage begins at 11:45. Consult the full live stream schedule here.
- The Golf Channel has “Morning Drive” on TV and online from 6 to 8 a.m. Friday, and “Live from the Masters” on TV and online beginning at 8 a.m.
- AT&T/DIRECTV has coverage of featured groups, Amen Corner and the 15th and 16th holes starting at 3 p.m. each day (at 2 p.m. Sunday) on Channels 703, 704 and 705. There’s a 4K package from Amen Corner on Channel 105 and the 15th and 16th holes on Channel 106 starting at 10 a.m. on Friday; at noon Saturday and Sunday for Amen Corner and 12:30 for the 15th and 16th holes. You also can stream the coverage.
- Masters.com offers much of the same live coverage, too.
Tee times (all times Eastern)
Woods, who began in the morning on Thursday, will tee off in one of Friday’s final groups at 1:27 p.m. Mickelson, Fowler and Kuchar will play together beginning at 10:31 a.m. McIlroy is in the next group, teeing off at 10:42 a.m. Spieth tees off at 10:53 a.m. Rose and Johnson will tee off at 11:04 a.m. Finau, one of the week’s strangest stories after dislocating his ankle in Wednesday’s par-3 contest, will tee off at 9:36 a.m.
The full list of tee times for Friday is here, along with breakdowns of the top groups.
Sergio’s disaster
Defending champion Sergio Garcia saw his chances of repeating disappear on the back nine Thursday when he melted down at the par-5 15th. He arrived there 2 over for the day and had eagled the hole in his final round last year. The 15th is historically the course’s easiest hole.
But Garcia put five balls in the water and carded a 13, two shots higher than anyone had ever recorded at the 15th.
“You saw it,” Garcia said. “I don’t think I need to describe it.”
Read Barry Svrluga’s full report about Garcia’s nightmare.
Weather report
It will remain sunny Friday and should be about 10 degrees warmer than Thursday’s high 60s, though the winds will pick up a bit. Saturday’s third round is a big question mark, however, with rain and continued breeziness in the forecast. Whether it will be enough to halt play remains to be seen, but it very well could (especially if any thunderstorms pop up). The wet weather should help soften Augusta’s notoriously tricky greens.
Mostly sunny skies will return Sunday, though it will be cool with highs in the mid-60s.
More Masters coverage from The Post:
Boswell: Tiger Woods was back at the Masters, and golf just might have plenty more of him
Svrluga: When Tiger and Phil play a practice round, it’s anything but meaningless
For 10 bucks, you can eat like a king at the Masters
Augusta National to host a women’s amateur event in 2019
Tiger and Phil teamed up for nine holes of golf. (They won.)
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