2022 Masters Day 1
Posted on April 8, 2022
Tweet
Thursday at the Masters
Augusta National was playing a little soft which also meant it was playing a little longer than usual. No run for drives, a few mud balls coming out the rough, a different kind of tough.
The patrons were back in their droves with their King, Tiger prowling around the course. There was a roar for every up and down and there was a feeling of inevitability when he calmly rolled in another par putt on 18 for a 71. Just an incredible round from where he was.
The early starters were forced to delay their start and then had a stop start affair to get going. This got to Cambo, who book-ended his round with doubles, but did warm up in the middle, posting 8 birdies with some delightful wedges on his way to a 68 and the morning lead.
Scottie drifted seamlessly into contention too. The world number 1’s 69 tied with Niemann and Willett - which is a perfect spot headed into Friday.
The wind started to pick up just as the afternoon starters got underway and the forecast is more of that all tournament. The wind was up so much that DJ slotted a 7 iron into 12 - normally a knock down 9 for the big man.
The wind did deter Sangjae as he started Amen Corner, but not enough to prevent him from an eagle on 13 and birdie on 15, to sign for the lead with a 67. The man who had tied Cambo as runner up in 2020, had now risen to the top at Augusta.
DJ was another of those to end with a 69, but he had looked likely to go even lower with no bogeys and 4 birdies through 12 holes. No one else from the afternoon made it into the 60s.
Round of the Day
A tough Thursday at the Masters with the wind testing on the back 9 - there was some reward, but only for those willing to take the ultimate risks. A 67 to lead and then only 6 players to break 70. Even par has you stuck in the top 20.
HV3 deserves praise for an incredible back 9, after a bogey on 12. He then reeled off an eagle and 2 birdies to vault into the top 10.
However, the round of the day, belonged to our leader Sangjae who also enjoyed an eagle on the back 9 and a 3-birdie start to get him going early. He looked calmed and assured all day. Lets see how leaderboard pressure goes on day 2.
Shot of the Day
With the softer conditions, players were able to impart some spin and check onto the golf ball, sometimes being sucked off the front of the green.
Reminiscent of Lefty's shot from the trees, HV3 nearly holed out for an albatross, but settled for a tap in eagle.
Niemann hit a beauty into no. 9 and sucked one back in for an eagle 2.
Performances of the Day
The Leaders
The Chasers
majorpunter Picks
Top Bucket:
Cambo, JT and Rahmbo dominated the picks at the top - being picked 61% of the time. Only Cambo stood up to be counted with his "bogey-free" 68. JT struggled - he seems to never really click at Augusta, chunking his way to a 76. Rahmbo will be fuming too after a miserable back 9 to close.
2nd Bucket:
BK, King Louis and Jordan were the most favoured, with 54% of punters backing them. All have major pedigree, but unfortunately not all of them were able to put a decent score on the board - hurting punters throughout. This is such a key bucket and all 3 ended grossly over par. Delivering though was Conners who once again stood tall at Augusta with his superior ball striking prowess coming to the fore.
3rd Bucket: This bottom bucket was a tough one to nail down - with the top 3 Tommy, Leish, Rose and Tiger only controlling 43% of the picks. The Big Cat certainly represented with a solid 71, which had its fair share of par saves and none of the others listed breaking par.
Spare a though for the 5 punters that picked Wolff who was poor all day and none too pleased with his play.
Stats:
Bucket 1: Cambo 25%, JT 23%, Rahmbo 13% & DJ 8%. (2 are under par)
Bucket 2: BK 25%, King Louis 17%, Jordan 12% & Zala 6% (1 of these is under par)
Bucket 3: Tommy 14%, Leish 11%, Rose 9%, Tiger 9% & Henley 9%. (1 of these is under par)
For a full view of the scores head to Masters Leaderboard and majorpunter leaderboard.
majorpunter Leaderboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iggy’s Azaleas | Jamo Sceales | -7 |
| 2 | Teebags | Adam Van Niekerk | -6 |
| T3 | Eagles nest | Adi Erasmus | -5 |
| T3 | Endgamers 2.0 | Kyle De la Harpe | -5 |
| T5 | Bradthig5 | Brad Thigpen | -4 |
| T5 | Fitzmagic | Wil Harper | -4 |
| T5 | Peaky Blinders | Anthony Baird | -4 |
| T5 | Bradthig7 | Brad Thigpen | -4 |
| T9 | MJ + Crew | Marc Jury | -3 |
| T9 | Boogerbuster2 | Carter Drane | -3 |
Day 1 is all about keeping yourself in it and not getting too excited in the chase for your first major. There were some good scores for the punters and a fair number of scores under par.
Iggy’s Azaleas made a late charge into the lead with a team lead by DJ and underpinned by Niemann’s eagle.
Teebags lies only 1 back and had led for most of the day till a stuttering BK derailed his bus.
Nipping at their heels is Eagles nest and Endgamers 2.0 who sit just 2 back.
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T92 | Mark Steffenhagen 2 | Grier Brown | +10 |
| T92 | Hot Shots | Graeme Cook | +10 |
| T92 | Just a Guess | D C | +10 |
| T92 | Lion Bushes | Selwyn Dunn | +10 |
| T96 | Woodys | Graham Wood | +11 |
| T96 | Rob Dogs 5 | Robbie East | +11 |
| T96 | Balls on the lip | Cliff Schoeman | +11 |
| T99 | AHK | Harper Kranz | +12 |
| T99 | Westcobar2 | Luke West | +12 |
| 101 | Knight Samurai | Rob Bacon | +13 |
The bottomboard is littered with train wrecks with 15 teams in double digits over par! This year, last is outside the top 100 which is a big number.
Knight Samurai, Westcobar 2, AHK, Woodys, Rob Dogs 5 and Balls on the lip sprayed it all over the place and won’t feel good headed into Friday.
Knight Samurai was one of those with Wolff but then compounded by Tommy, JT, King Louis and Jordan! All were seemingly solid picks. The wild card was like a hot potato in this team!
Augusta National is going to be playing tough this weekend, so a few hang tough pars will be well received - especially around Amen Corner.
For more news and information head over to majorpunter.
Looking forward to an attritional 2nd day with so many possibilities. Keep an eye on the cut-line and the players finding some form and their grooves for your Substitutions strategy.
You don’t want to miss that Subs deadline, which is 10 mins before the first tee time on Saturday - wherever you may be across the globe.