AUGUSTA, Ga. — Some things never change at the Masters: pimento cheese sandwiches, the azaleas, green jackets and Fred Couples on the leader board.
Couples, who won the 1992 Masters, was one of several past champions to fare well during the opening round of the Masters yesterday at Augusta National. Couples fashioned a 4-under par 68 to stand two shots off the lead heading into today's second round. Trevor Immelman, the 2008 winner, also shot 68, while 2007 winner Zach Johnson shot a 69.
Couples played the par-5s in 3-under to get the most out of his round.
AP
Welshman Jamie Donaldson bagged the first hole-in-one — and 24th in Masters history — when he aced the 180-yard sixth hole in his opening round.
Donaldson was 1-under after his ace, but finished his day with a 2-over 74.
"I know how to play the course. That's not the problem," he said. "I had a couple practice rounds where I didn't play all that well and I was a little concerned. I went out and after [the Par-3 contest on Wednesday] and I practiced for about an extra 40 minutes and I seemed to find a little bit and I took it on the course."
MASTERS LEADERBOARD
Although he is 53, Couples has been in the top 10 after two rounds at the Masters in each of the last three years. He finished sixth in 2010, tied for 15th in 2011 and he was leading heading into the third round last year before finishing tied for 12th.
"I can keep this thing going because I know I can play this course," he said. "If I hit it like that, I can play it every day.
"This is a good spot for me," he added. "The people get me fired up and they yell hard and they're everywhere. They're out there for everybody."
Immelman has battled numerous injuries since his Masters win. He hasn't captured a victory since then.
"I need to start to gain some of the confidence that I had five or six years ago when I had a nice run for a few years," the South African said. "I definitely found a nice rhythm on the back nine and started hitting some quality shots and then converted some putts. That was a nice feeling."
george.willis@nypost.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment