AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Masters went to threesomes for the first time since 1962. Afternoon play was as slow as a Saturday at a municipal course.
Defending champion Mark O'Meara's group played the first three holes in exactly one hour.
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| Mark O'Meara looks to the sky as a weather delay is
called Thursday at the Augusta National Golf Club. |
Then O'Meara, amateur champion Hank Kuehne and Lee Westwood had to wait another 10 minutes before they hit their tee shots on the 205-yard, par-3 No. 4. O'Meara hooked his ball into trouble and
took a bogey.
Then a 90-minute weather delay made things even worse.
"Threesomes made play more difficult and longer," O'Meara said. "A 6½-hour round kind of takes it out of you. It wasn't a very good pace of play."
Freshly grown rough also contributed to the slowdown as players tried to figure whether a shot would fly without spin to the green. Augusta National traditionally has had little or no rough.
"Every time you missed the green it was a guessing game," said Scott McCarron, who shot a 3-under-par 69. "I know of one bogey I had because I hit a flier over the green. The rough is difficult to
judge."
Fluff is back
Mike "Fluff" Cowan caddied for Tiger Woods in 1997 when they teamed to win The Masters.
Cowan was without a bag after they split but he landed a new money-maker when Jim Furyk, the man with the helicopter swing, hired him.
"We're going to try it out and see how it works," Furyk said. "My intention and Mike's intention is that Mike is working for me full time."
Furyk said Cowan is one of the best professional caddies on the circuit.
"I was fortunate when I needed a caddie that he was available and wanted to work for me," Furyk said.
Furyk was in the last group to tee off on Thursday.
Arnie takes a beating
Arnold Palmer set a Masters record by playing in his 45th consecutive tournament, breaking a tie with Sam Snead.
That was the good part for the 69-year-old Palmer, who hasn't made a cut since 1984.
Palmer, a four-times Masters champion, made double bogey on the first and second holes on his way to a 7-over-par 43 on the front nine. He finished with an 11-over-par 83.
Par 5s play tough
The best way to go low at Augusta National is to destroy the four par-5s. However, changes to the
course have spoiled that cakewalk.
Davis Love shot a 3-under-par 69 without a birdie on a par-5.
"They have turned No. 15 into a scary hole," Love said. "You can't hit it on the green with your second shot (because it's so fast) and you can't hit it on the green with your third shot."
Masters officials had the mounds cut down in the right fairway which used to produce more distance. They also planted pine trees on the right to keep players from bailing out.
Scott McCarron said No. 15 "is a big change. I used to hit it up on the hill and it kicked back to the fairway. Today I hit a 3-iron in there and that's a club or two different."
Faldo folds
It was difficult to believe Nick Faldo had won two Masters titles in the 1990s the way he played on Thursday.
Faldo won in 1990 and 1996 but his game has been on a slow slide. He missed the cut in two tournaments this year, was diqualified in another, and finished 55th last week in the BellSouth Classic.
Disaster was his playing companion on Thursday. He double bogeyed the 575-yard par-5 second hole on his way to a 4-over-par 40. Coming home he got his first birdie on the par-3 No. 16, the
only highlight for another 4-over-par 40 and an 8-over-par 80 total.
Gary Player, who is 69, beat Faldo by a shot.
Singh rides the roller coaster
How can you shoot a 2-under 34 on the back nine at Augusta National and make only one par? Just read Vijay Singh's card.
The 1998 PGA champion shot a 2-over-par 38 on the front side, and then came Vijay's follies.
He went birdie, bogey, birdie, par, bogey, birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie.
Singh finished even par 72 for the wild and crazy day.
Crowded 80s
Doug Ford, the 1957 Masters champion, had the high score in Thursday's first round with a
16-over-par 88.
He was joined in the 80s by Joe Durant with 87, Billy Casper, the 1970 champion with 86, four-time champion Arnold Palmer with an 83 and Gay Brewer Jr., the 1967 champion, and three-time champion Nick Faldo with 80s,
