While all of the hype surrounded Tiger Woods heading into the 2018 Masters Tournament, it was Jordan Spieth who stormed the course in the opening round on Thursday. He finished the day with an impressive -6 by shooting a 66, giving him the overall lead heading into Round 2.
Spieth was even through seven holes but he turned it up after that. He had an Eagle on the eighth hole and then birdied holes 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 before finishing with a bogey on the 18th. He was incredible and now holds a two-stroke lead going into Friday.
Aside from Spieth, the biggest story of the day was Tony Finau, who dislocated his ankle on Wednesday after hitting a hole in one. While the injury looked serious, apparently all that was required was to pop it back in place. He was good to go for Thursday, shooting a -4 with a 68, which was quite impressive given the circumstances. He’s tied with Matt Kuchar at -4.
Seven players are tied at -3, including Rory McIlroy, who is still considered one of the best bets to win it. Henrik Stenson, Charley Hoffman, Adam Hadwin, Li Haotong and Rafael Cabrera Bello are also tied at -3.
In terms of Tiger Woods, he had a relatively mediocre day. He finished with a base +1 after shooting a 73. That puts him in a tie for 29th, which is far off the pace. It’s hard to believe that as good as he’s played so far this season, he’s still eight strokes off the lead, which is a sizable gap to overcome. Woods finished with some momentum, birdying 14 and 16, giving him a -2 on the final five holes. If he’s hoping to be within arm’s reach of the win on Sunday, he better shoot at least a -4 or a -5 on Friday.
He wasn’t the only big-name player with a disappointing day as defending champ Sergio Garcia was a horrendous +9, Dustin Johnson finished even and Justin Thomas was a +2.
Keep an eye on the betting lines at BetDSI sportsbook as they’ll be updated from round to round. Of course, Spieth will be the clear-cut favorite to win the tournament after his showing on Thursday. We’ll see if that changes after Friday’s round of golf at Augusta.
