No golfer on record has ever double bogeyed the first hole of The Masters and gone on to don the green jacket.
But Jon Rahm is a man on a mission to rewrite history at Augusta National.
After four-putting the opening hole, the Spaniard roared back to shoot seven-under 65 on Thursday and join Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka at the summit of the first-round leaderboard.
Seven birdies and an eagle at the eighth hole saw Rahm card the lowest 18-hole score in Masters history among players to have opened with a double bogey or worse, a start 554 golfers had suffered previously, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
The world No. 3, chasing his second major title after victory at the US Open in 2021, hit every single fairway in what he dubbed a top-three major round of his career.
“If you’re going to make a double or four-putt or anything, it might as well be the first hole,” Rahm told reporters.
“After that, I was focused on the fact that all the strokes were good, the reads were good, the roll was good. Obviously the speed was off on the first two putts, so once I kind of accepted that there was nothing really to look into, I just got to work and I had 17 holes to make up.”
Hovland had surged into an early lead courtesy of a blistering start, draining an eagle on the second hole and making a birdie-birdie finish to the front nine to take a two-shot lead into the turn.
Having never previously broken 70 at Augusta National, the Norwegian shot a bogey-free round to card the lowest score in his major championship career. The 25-year-old’s previous best had come at the Open Championship last year, when his third round 66 had sent him into the final day locked in a fight at the top with Rory McIlroy.
His bid for a first major ultimately ran out of steam at St. Andrews, but Hovland believes he is in a better place nine months on.
“It was just one of those days where I didn’t quite have it,” Hovland told reporters.
“It wasn’t like a mental error. But I feel like my skill set is a lot better right now, and I think I would have wanted to play that Sunday again, this week, for example. That would have been a lot of fun.”
Koepka made it a three-way tie at the top with an excellent showing on his eighth Masters start. The 32-year-old is a four-time major winner but is yet to win a green jacket, with a runner-up finish in 2019 his best performance.
The LIV Golf star has been candid about frustrations with his form, struggles aggravated by multiple injuries, but is feeling back to full fitness at Augusta.
“It’s been a long time since everything’s felt normal,” Koepka told reporters.
“Being able to just comfortably read a putt, just little things like that. Being able to squat down normal, it’s been a huge, huge difference.”
Amateur hour
Cameron Young and Jason Day spearhead the chasing pack, two strokes behind the leading trio, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler sits within striking distance a further shot back.
Six golfers sit level with the world No. 1 at four under, but one name stands out among them all: Sam Bennett.
The 22-year-old amateur tore out of the blocks, following up a birdie at the opening hole with an eagle at the second. After a second birdie at the sixth, the American sunk 12 straight pars to become the only amateur in the last 30 years to record a bogey-free round at the major.
Bennett is living the dream, playing holes he’d only previously played on video games. But make no mistake, he’s not just in Augusta for the experience.
“It’s been incredible,” Bennett told reporters. “Dream come true to be able to tee it up at Augusta playing the Masters. I’m soaking it all in.
I feel like I’m prepared, got some good work in. It’s cool being an amateur. I’m going to have fun. I’m not here to treat it like a hit and giggle. I’m here to compete and test my game.”
Fellow amateur Matthew McClean – an optometrist from Northern Ireland – also made a fairytale start, temporarily leading the field after two birdies across his first four holes. However, double bogeys at the seventh and 17th respectively undid a bright start, as McClean carded five-over to end the day tied for 78th.
Woe for Woods and McIlroy
It was a rough start to McIlroy’s pursuit of the career grand slam, as the Northern Irishman shot an even-par 72 to return to the clubhouse tied for 37th.
McIlroy is an elusive green jacket away from becoming only the sixth player to win all four majors, but struggled for momentum during his opening round. Back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes looked to have primed McIlroy for a strong finish after a painful double bogey at the seventh, only for a third bogey of the day at the 17th to drop him back to even-par.
Ahead of the tournament, Tiger Woods said it would only be “a matter of time” before McIlroy won at Augusta. Woods’ five Masters wins put him second only to Jack Nicklaus, but any hopes of the 47-year-old matching the record this week look faint after he opened with a two-over 74.
Woods is tied for 54th heading into Friday’s second round, which will decide the 50 golfers and ties that make the cut for the weekend. The first golfers are set to tee off at 7:30 a.m. ET (12:30 p.m. BST), a time moved forward by 30 minutes due to expectations of bad weather.
