AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s hard to find anyone here who believes Zach Johnson will repeat as Masters champion, but there he was on the first page of the leaderboard Thursday after an opening-round 2-under-par 70.
“I was anxious. I mean, I was ready to go. I was ready probably last week,” Johnson said. “It’s one of those things where I just couldn’t wait to get started. I mean, I wanted to put last year behind me and start playing again.
“I don’t get first-tee jitters on tour much. I can’t remember the last time I did, but I had them here on 1, I had them here on 2. But it’s good to know I still have some feelings, and good ones at that.”
Old reliable.
Entering this year, Fred Couples had never missed the cut in the Masters, playing on the weekend 23 straight times. That run ties a record set by Gary Player. Whether Couples breaks it this year is a bit up in the air.
Couples, the 1992 champion, opened with a 4-over 76, a disappointing start for a man who finished tied for fourth last week in Houston.
“I didn’t hit very good shots and I didn’t make many putts, so when you do that, it kind of adds up to 76, which is very mediocre,” Couples said. “But I hit the ball well — it wasn’t like I embarrassed myself.”
Happy anniversary.
The 48-year-old Couples failed to join a number of, ahem, experienced players who performed well Thursday. Mark O’Meara, 51, finished with a 71, one shot better than 50-year-old Sandy Lyle. The two are connected by more than just the calendar. O’Meara is the 1998 champion, and Lyle won 10 years earlier.
Sound advice?
Arron Oberholser shot a respectable 71, a round made even more impressive by the fact the Masters will probably be his last tournament for at least a couple of months.
Oberholser has spent much of the past year or so battling hand, shoulder and neck injuries, maladies that he said have been exacerbated by bad information from his doctors.
“I can play one round of golf, I might even be able to play two decent rounds of golf, but to play three or four and then to play two, three weeks in a row, I can’t do it,” Oberholser said. “I haven’t had any advice . . . because I’m tired of listening to doctors. It’s all guesswork and white coats.
“It’s frustrating to hear from the doctors, ‘You’ve got to do this and you’ve got to do that,’ and they don’t know what they’re talking about, half of them.”
Anthony Cotton, The Denver Post
