American Bill Haas shot a four-under 68 on Thursday’s opening round at The Masters, and will take a one shot lead over defending champion Adam Scott, 2012 champ Bubba Watson and the runner to Watson, Louis Oosthuizen.
Haas, the 2011 FedEx Cup champ, became the first player to hit the clubhouse with a score in the sixties, in a day where despite near-perfect conditions, low scoring was at a premium. It’s the first time he's broken 70 in 17 career rounds at Augusta National.
He started his round with a bogey at the opening hole, but made up for it immediately by birdieing the Par-5 second. He would add two more birdies on the front nine and got to ‘Amen Corner’ (the famous stretch of holes from 11 through 13) at two-under.
Haas followed a birdie at No. 13 with another at the 14th to move into the lead. He dropped a shot at No. 17 to fall back into a tie for the lead, but retook sole possession of the top spot on the leaderboard with a closing birdie.
The pressure is on for Haas who is followed closely by the last two champs and the runner up two years ago. He is well aware that he can’t fall off like he did last week after leading the opening round at the Shell Houston Open.
"I know there's tons of golf left," Haas said. "And maybe understanding that, I know that I can't expect too much. You've just got to go out there and keep playing golf, try to hit that fairway on No. 1 tomorrow."
For Scott, the defending champ and who could become the world’s No. 1 player with finish no worse than a two-way tie for third, his three-under 69 opening round matches the same total he had to open last year.
He had five birdies along with a double-bogey on the par-3 12th hole when his tee shot found the water after his ball hit the bank short of the green and bounced back into Rae's Creek. The double bogey was the only blemish on his round. No Masters champion has made worse than a bogey on any hole since 2008.
"I just lost a little focus on that shot and didn't commit fully to it,” Scott said. "It was a weak shot."
He's missed a couple putts that would have pushed him further into the red, but he's hitting the ball extremely well, hitting 13 of 16 greens.
"I felt confident coming in today, I've been swinging well. Putting felt good. So I fully expected to play a solid round of golf." Scott added. "That was a nice way to end the day and not walk off shooting 70."
Watson’s three-under 69 was flawless as he went bogey-free. Oosthuizen, runner-up to Watson in 2012 and the 2010 Open Champion, mixed in six birdies and three bogeys throughout his round to match Scott and Watson in the tie for second place.
Masters rookies Kevin Stadler, Jimmy Walker and Jonas Blixt of Sweden were among those to open with 70s and sit two shots behind Haas in a tie for fifth-place. They’re also among a record 24 first-time Masters participants in the 97-player field.
Walker, the current FedEx Cup standings leader and who has three Tour wins this season, birdied four of the final five holes after making two bogeys from holes through ‘Amen Corner.’
“I felt like I had really given quite a bit away there, but just stuck with it,” Walker said. “I knew I had to stay with it and see what happens.”
Also at two-under are K.J. Choi, Gary Woodland and Marc Leishman.
Besides Scott’s 69 and Rory McIlroy’s 71, no other Top 10 player in the world on the field would break par: Henrik Stenson (73), Jason Day (75), Phil Mickelson (76), Sergio Garcia (74), Matt Kuchar (73), Justin Rose (76) and Zach Johnson (78).