Tiger Woods reacts to a missed putt on the 12th hole during the first round of the 2023 Masters Tournament. | Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Expectations for some were brought back down to Earth for some.
Some guys just didn’t have their A-game at Augusta National on Thursday during the opening round of the Masters. Some may have not even been ready to play.
With that said, here are Thursday’s most disappointing performances from Round 1.
Tiger Woods (+2)
Tiger finished 3 shots worse than his opening round at Augusta last year and it can be said 2022 presented more physical challenges for him. He was slow out of the gates as he finished the first half of the round with three birdies. And despite having some classic Tiger moments with birdie putts on Holes 15 and 16, his iron game just wasn’t there Thursday and couldn’t do enough to at least finish even on the day.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy (E)
It just wasn’t a good day for the world’s second-ranked golfer. McIlroy’s game was off all afternoon as he found himself often in bad spots out of the rough, in the sand, and missing putts he’d usually make. Three bogeys and a double bogey made up his afternoon on way to an even par 72 performance Thursday. Just another slow start for McIlroy… again.
Max Homa (-1)
Many may be surprised that Homa is on here at all. Truth is, he’s played a decent game all season long and being in second place of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings proves that. However, the 32-year-old out of Burbank, CA faced some struggles throughout the first round of the Masters, finishing with a 71 and tied for 26th. Finding himself hitting out of the hand in two out of the first two holes of Round 1 set the tone for an uphill battle in the afternoon.
Dishonorable Mentions
Scottie Scheffler (-4) – What? Why is Scheffler mentioned here? Well, yes, he was the Scheffler we’ve grown to know as we watched him plant shots perfectly on the greens. But he was missing putts which ultimately places him here. His three birdies on the second nines helped his score, but that bogey on 11 looked real bad when he needed three putts to finish the hole. He didn’t look like a complete golfer, one that is ranked No. 1 in the world.
Justin Thomas (-2) – Thomas had a weird day. With multiple shots outside the fairway and off the greens (and sometimes way off the greens), the 10th ranked golfer in the world kept battling his own bad shots. With four birdies and only two bogeys, Thomas’ 2-under 70 could have been far worse.
