The Masters: Jordan Spieth dominates the day one leaderboard

The Masters was a pure Jordan Spieth clinic once again on Thursday. Will anybody be able to keep up the pace with the former green jacket winner?

Jordan Spieth clearly subscribes to the theory of “act like you’ve been there before”. That counts double at the Masters, where Spieth finds himself in a spot he’s been plenty of times before.

The top of the historic Augusta National leaderboard.

Spieth came into this week perhaps a bit of an afterthought. After all, how many of the game’s other stars – Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson – have been playing great golf lately? It’s not fair, or even smart, of so many of us to do that, but it happened. Spieth is clearly out to prove how foolish that was.

It’s almost comical how good Spieth has become at Augusta over the years. Opening with birdies on two of his first three holes, he did stumble a bit – by his standards – before the turn. A pair of bogeys on Nos. 5 and 7 brought him back to level par. How did he answer?

And absolutely fantastic eagle on No. 8. Naturally.

From there, it was all systems go. Spieth kept grinding out pars, before the floodgates opened on the second nine. Spieth thrilled patrons as he rattled off five straight birdies from 13 through 17, getting down to a magnificent -7 on the day. Even on 18, when he yanked his driver far left, he nearly saved par.

Coming in with a powerful six-under 66, Spieth holds a two-shot lead over the rest of the field. If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: Augusta National is Spieth’s playground.

The Masters Leaderboard: Round One

Spieth’s dominance will certainly overshadow some other outstanding performances, but he was far from the only star on the day.

The two players tied for second behind Spieth are a pair of “never won a major” darlings. One, Matt Kuchar, had a tale of two nines. He made the turn at +1, before turning on the jets on the second nine. With birdies on both of the par-5’s and three of the last four, Kuchar came home in just 31, carding a four-under 68 on the day.

The other player was a surprise to even tee it up on Thursday. Tony Finau went viral on Wednesday, making a hole-in-one in the Par-3 Contest, then dislocating his ankle while celebrating. It was a tough injury to watch, and even tougher to watch him pop it back in, by himself. You’d have to get a stretcher for me in that case, Augusta or not.

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Finau, though, seemed none the worse for wear. After an opening bogey, the “Big Break Disney” alum handled his business. Four birdies on the first nine and two more on the back offset a single extra bogey on 14 – the hardest hole of the day. To be fair, I wouldn’t feel much pain playing that way at Augusta, either.

Here’s how the rest of the leaderboard shook out from day one:

1. Spieth, -6
T2. Kuchar, -4
T2. Finau, -4
T4. McIlroy, Stenson, Reed, Hoffman, Hadwin, Li, Cabrera Bello, -3

Notables include early leader Marc Leishman, Rickie Fowler, and former champions Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson in the group tied for 11th at -2. Xander Schauffele and Vijay Singh are also in at -1, tied for 16th. Finally, the group at even par includes Fred Couples, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, and current low amateur Doug Ghim.

Next: Sergio Garcia's Masters Disaster

This Masters was called “one of the most anticipated in our lifetime”. If the first round is any indication of what we have to come, I’d say we’re off to a pretty good start.

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