Hard truths are hard to avoid at Augusta. For Tiger Woods, old of body and scaled back in ambition, a few were written in his scorecard on Thursday and underlined by the sight of younger men having a far more enjoyable walk nearby.
All too often during his opening round at the Masters, completed in 74 blows and as many groans, it was tricky to work out what might have ached more: his diminished right leg, his putting or the proximity of guys who posted the kind of numbers he used to know.
One of the latter was Viktor Hovland, Woods’s own playing partner. He was magnificent and home in 65 for the early clubhouse lead, later tied by Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.
To think, Hovland was born five months after Woods first won this tournament. To think, Rahm is one of the three kings in a sport that for so long had only one ruler. To think, Koepka was once a star of the traditional game before LIV came along.
But this was not a day for turning back clocks, and in all likelihood there won’t be many when that is the case in any sustained manner for Woods. He is 47, walks like a man far older, and even he has stopped saying he can win here — making a cut is success these days for a 15-time major winner, and by such standards, he has a battle on to avoid a first culling at Augusta since 1996.
Tiger Woods endured a frustrating day at Augusta on Thursday and finished two over par
He will fight like hell to avoid that, of course. Just witness how he recovered from three-over through 14 to sit one over going into the 17th. But that pair of birdies on 15 and 16 were as good as he got and it was perhaps more indicative of his form that he gave up his fifth bogey of the day at the last. Flashes were all he could manage on a day when he drove well, was inaccurate with his iron approaches and regularly misread the putts.
It called to mind what they say about an ageing boxer — the power is the last thing to go. For the out-of-practice golfer, with Woods having played one tournament since July, the touch on and around the greens can be hard to recover via back-garden knocks alone.
When he was done, he was asked how that mangled right leg felt. ‘Sore,’ was the single-word response. Occasionally or often? ‘Constant.’ So credit to him for pushing on, and maybe he will be able to thrive on Friday when the worsening weather puts a premium on nous. He later recognised that might be his best chance.
‘I had two three-putts, and consequently I’m a couple over par,’ he said. ‘I didn’t hit my irons close enough today. I didn’t give myself very good looks. I need to do a better job of that going forward to hopefully get myself back in this tournament.
‘Most of the guys are going low today. This was the day to do it.’ Woods, who was three over through seven before finally pulling one back at eight, added: ‘Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be a little bit better, a little bit sharper, and kind of inch my way through it. This is going to be an interesting finish with the weather coming in. If I can just hang in there, inch my way back, hopefully it will be positive towards the end.’
Brooks Koepka finished the day with a joint lead after a superb seven under par on Thursday
Viktor Hovland (left) and Jon Rahm (right) both hit superb 65s at Augusta on Thursday
The best golf of the day was played in his company, via Hovland, the Norwegian who had previously never broken 70 here. He will be a significant factor in the Ryder Cup for Europe later this year, so his form was encouraging, as are his more immediate tournament prospects.
His round ignited with an eagle at the second and he avoided carding a single bogey. He flirted with danger at the last by entering two bunkers and yet he still avoided any blemishes.
He said: ‘That was fun, especially playing with Tiger for the first time.’ Not so long ago, players used to wilt in Woods’ orbit and the swelled galleries that came with it. Not Hovland.
‘Obviously it’s really cool to just be around him,’ he said. ‘He’s been such a huge influence to the game of golf, and obviously I watched him hours growing up. To get to play with him for the first time today was very special, and especially to play this round as well.
‘When I was told I was paired with Tiger, my heart kind of went a little bit further up in the throat, and I just thought, ‘Wow, this is going to be exciting’. Heart rate started going up. After that, I calmed myself down. You’ve just got to embrace it. If you want to win this tournament, you can’t be scared about playing with Tiger. So you’ve just got to overcome things like that.’
Rory McIlroy struggled to hit his best form on Thursday as he toiled in the tougher weather
While Rory McIlroy was toiling in the tougher weather — one over through nine, having doubled the seventh — Rahm was superb. The Spaniard four-putted the first but birdies at two and three undid the damage and he began to rocket after an eagle three at eight before gaining four further strokes on the inward nine. Scottie Scheffler, the other element of the big three, was three under through 10.
Cameron Young was at five under, having blazed his way in the gentler early conditions with three birdies in his opening three holes, but the most compelling figure on the leaderboard was Koepka.
That is because he is one of the LIV rebels, of course, but it has always been said that the four-time major winner is devilishly hard to stop when his confidence is up. Well, having won on the breakaway circuit last weekend, his mood is sky high and so is his game — he tied Rahm and Hovland’s score of seven under, with his solitary wobble being a bogey at the extended 13th hole.
For more localised interests, there was also a solid start by the former Open champion Shane Lowry at four under.
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