Day 1 at the 2026 Masters
Posted on April 10, 2026
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Thursday at The Masters
Check out the majorpunter score's at The Masters.
The conditions at Augusta National were superb - clear skies, with a slight chill. Just glorious. The course is looking firm in places, sure to get tougher as each day passes.
It’s going to be a tricky 2026 Masters in this weather. The course is firm, dry and getting tougher. The afternoon was as close to the edge as its been for a number of years. The scores backed this up, with only 16 players under par.
The defending champ Rory has set the early pace out the house with a 67 and the co-lead heading into Friday, tied with Mr Burns.
Its the 1st time, the defending champ has co-led since Jordan in 2016. It was a round of superb patience and an eventual red-hot putter yielding him birdies and a bogey free back 9!
Both the leaders were brilliant with their putters - hardly holing a kick-in, even on the par 5s which were all very reachable.
Stats attack
The winner is coming from players at Even or better, all within 5 shots back at Masters, and the stats back this up:
18 of the last 20 winners, were in the top 10 after round 1 and 20 straight winners shot even or better in round 1. Going back to all the previous Masters, only 10 winners in 89 were more than 5 shots back after round 1.
So the challengers list has been whittled down very fast. Lets see if the weather conditions change this.
Shot of the Day
A string of eagle 3’s on the par 5’s, as we expect. Some rolled in and some bounced in, including a 3 from debutant Reitan on the famed 13th before Shane dunked one of top of him for some famed crystal vases as a reward.
Scotty followed suit, nearly HOLING IT for an albatross!
Round of the Day
Mr Burns powered in with a 67, including an eagle 3 at no 2, getting his round off to a fast start. He was steady throughout to post his lowest Masters round and take a co-lead into Friday.
Performance of the Day
Freddie was rolling back the years, looking good for a top 10 close, till he got roasted with a 9 on 15z, finishing with 2 more doubles. A round that could have been, and there were many of those.
Flip that to Kitayama who found Rae’s Creek on 12 with his chip shot, before rallying to post birdies on 15 and 17, posting a sub 70 score and T3 headed into Friday.
There are a few vets enjoying themselves at the hallowed grounds. Under par efforts from JDay, The Feed, JRose and Gary WU which is pretty impressive.
The Leaders
The Chasers
majorpunter Picks
Top Bucket:
Surprisingly Rory never dominated the picks as he cruised into a day 1 lead. Scottie turned in a solid 70, faring better while others struggled in the afternoon. There were a few surprises and big numbers from Rahmbo in particular.
2nd Bucket:
BDC was an over-powering force in the build up and of course heavily favoured in picks. Never have we seen such a skewed majority. Sadly a triple bogey on 11, including a few fluffs in the sand, halted his momentum and dreams, leading to a 76.
3rd Bucket:
Mr Burns proved to be a shrewd selection, pointing to experience and guidance from his good friend Scottie- on numerous Augusta trips. He was only lightly backed amidst leaderboard topping 67. JRose had the best afternoon round going - he did finish with bogeys, but still posted under par to kick off his Augusta charge.
Bottom Bucket:
The Feed came in with form, has such pedigree at Augusta and delivered again, including 2 eagles on his front 9 and a string of par saves down the back 9, as the course firmed up.
Stats:
Bucket 1: Scottie 34%, Rahmbo 16%, Cam 12%, Rory 8% (2 under par)
Bucket 2: BDC 66%!, Hideki 8%, Collin 6%, Bridge 4% (1 under par)
Bucket 3: JRose 19%, The Hov 12%, Shane 9%, Gotterup 8% (2 under par)
Bucket 4: The Feed 25%, BK 13%, The Madhatter 12%, GaryWU 7% (2 under par)
For a full view of the scores head to Masters Leaderboard and majorpunter leaderboard.
majorpunter Leaderboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little General | Graeme East | -13 |
| T2 | Doyles Masters Team | David Dampier | -11 |
| T2 | ZachyZoo | Zach Rodrigues | -11 |
| T4 | Dawg Pound | Kevin Filliater | -10 |
| T4 | Endgamers 1.0 | Kyle De la Harpe | -10 |
| T4 | BUA | G McGregor | -10 |
| T7 | PokeyAU3 | Preston Barnes | -9 |
| T7 | Stiffies | Chris Van der Walt | -9 |
| T7 | Bradthig5 | Bradley Thigpen | -9 |
| 10 | Lara’s lads | Lara Adams | -8 |
Day 1 was a challenging opening day and its going to get tougher. Scores will be made on rounds 1 and 2, and then its a hold-on for the weekend.
Check out the results of your picks per the LEADERBOARD.
The lead sits at 13 under, led by Little General despite carrying BDC! Its a 2 shot lead over strong chasers ZachyZoo & Doyles Masters Team, who will be eager to make a flying start on Friday.
Its a long journey to run, plenty of change ahead. Its not how you start, but you finish.
majorpunter Bottomboard:
| Rank | Team | Punter | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T87 | Golf Cartel | Rudi Van Wyk | +3 |
| T87 | DegenParty2 | Haden Smith | +3 |
| T87 | ALM Stingers | De Wet Dannhauser | +3 |
| T90 | Fitzmagic1 | Wil Harper | +4 |
| T90 | 3 Ft For The Win | Frank Nelms | +4 |
| T92 | Stumpdogs | Graeme Marais | +5 |
| T92 | Henri’s Heroes | Ian Norden | +5 |
| T92 | Beastychiefs | James Bisset | +5 |
| 95 | Farfield | Matthew Verbaan | +6 |
| 96 | Krom Stok | Riaan Theron | +7 |
The bottomboard has some big numbers with a few punters significantly over par already. It does not help when Rahmbo & BDC as favourites have such a nightmare!
Krom Stok is last by only 1 shot, chasing Farfield who is more used to the top of the board as opposed to bottom!
With the course due to get even tougher, there is still a lot of unknown. With major champions in your team, we know they can flip the switch and turn it around.
For more news and information head over to majorpunter.
Looking forward to Friday with so much in anticipation.
