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A damp and rainy day one is done at the 2012 Masters and Englishman Lee Westwood is your leader in the clubhouse after shooting a terrific 5 under 67. South African Louis Oosthuizen and Swede Peter Hanson each finished at -4 to tie for second. Bubba Watson was the best American on the day and it tied with five other at -3.
It was a rough day for the favorites as Tiger Woods finished at even par while Rory McIlroy overcame a poor start to end up -1. The big difference between the two today was how they finished. Tiger bogeyed 18 while Rory finished strong with birdies on 17 & 18.
“I just wanted to keep grinding,” Woods told ESPN, “I hit some of the worst golf shots I’ve ever hit today, but its alright. I just stayed very patient and in the moment. Fortunately that’s about as good as I’ve got there. I could have shot one, maybe two better but I got a lot out of that round.”
The most disappointing round of the day however probably belonged to Phil Mickelson, who seemed to hit one bad tee shot after the other. He made the turn at 1 over, but then triple bogeyed 10 to go 4 over. He would rally to birdie 15 & 18 to finish at just +2 on the day. All told though, Phil says he's happy to be where he's at after playing so poorly.
"I missed the ball in the wrong spots, my short game didn't save me... I let three or four shots go. I hit a horrific drive on 10 and made a triple but I'm only 2 over. This is pretty good news because if I can get hot tomorrow, and I know I'm playing well enough to shoot 6 or 7 under, if I can go do that I'll be right in it for the weekend. Fortunately I didn't shoot my way out of it after not really playing well or smart."
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