Garcia, Leishman tied for lead at Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sergio Garcia might have written himself off too quickly at the Masters.
When last seen walking off the course at Augusta National, the impetuous Spaniard was moping about his bad luck at this tournament and said last year it was increasingly evident he would never be fitted for a green jacket.
Garcia matched his best score at the Masters on Thursday, a 6-under 66 with no bogeys on his card, to share the lead with Marc Leishman of Australia. And he still wasn’t entirely happy, although this time with good reason. He hit the ball so well his score could have been so much better.
“To tell you the truth, if I manage to make a couple of the putts that kind of stayed around the lip, I could have been probably 7- or 8-under par through 10,” Garcia said. “It was that good. And it wasn’t like I was hitting pitching wedge every single time. I was hitting 4-irons and 5-irons and 6-irons, so it wasn’t that easy.”
It sure felt easy for several players in a gentle opening round – even for an eighth-grader.
Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China and youngest to compete in a major in 148 years, played well beyond his age and holed a 15-foot putt from just off the 18th green for a respectable round of 73 and a reasonable chance of making the cut.
Tiger Woods wasn’t far off as he began his quest for a fifth green jacket. Wild at the start, including a tee shot that knocked a cup of beer out of a spectator’s hand, Woods settled into a groove and opened with a 70.
Garcia and Leishman had a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, who has a game that fits perfectly for Augusta and he finally brought it. Johnson hit a 9-iron for his second shot on the par-5 13th and made a 15-foot eagle putt, and he smashed his drive on the par-5 15th and hit pitching wedge just through the green for an easy birdie.
Masters
At Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club
Yardage: 7,435; Par: 72 (36-36)
| Marc Leishman | 35-31—66 |
| Sergio Garcia | 32-34—66 |
| Dustin Johnson | 33-34—67 |
| Fred Couples | 34-34—68 |
| Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 34-34—68 |
| Rickie Fowler | 34-34—68 |
| Trevor Immelman | 35-33—68 |
| Matt Kuchar | 33-35—68 |
| David Lynn | 33-35—68 |
| Adam Scott | 34-35—69 |
| Jim Furyk | 33-36—69 |
| Zach Johnson | 36-33—69 |
| K.J. Choi | 34-36—70 |
| Tim Clark | 35-35—70 |
| Jason Day | 36-34—70 |
| John Huh | 36-34—70 |
| Kevin Na | 38-32—70 |
| Justin Rose | 34-36—70 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 35-35—70 |
| David Toms | 36-34—70 |
| Lee Westwood | 36-34—70 |
| Tiger Woods | 34-36—70 |
| Angel Cabrera | 36-35—71 |
| Luke Donald | 36-35—71 |
| Ernie Els | 36-35—71 |
| Ryo Ishikawa | 34-37—71 |
| Bernhard Langer | 35-36—71 |
| Phil Mickelson | 38-33—71 |
| Ryan Moore | 37-34—71 |
| John Peterson | 36-35—71 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 36-35—71 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 36-35—71 |
| Jason Dufner | 37-35—72 |
| Bill Haas | 35-37—72 |
| Brian Gay | 35-37—72 |
| Peter Hanson | 36-36—72 |
| Russell Henley | 36-36—72 |
| Freddie Jacobson | 36-36—72 |
| Martin Kaymer | 35-37—72 |
| Rory McIlroy | 34-38—72 |
| Vijay Singh | 35-37—72 |
| D.A. Points | 35-37—72 |
| John Senden | 35-37—72 |
| Mike Weir | 38-34—72 |
| Y.E. Yang | 36-36—72 |
| Keegan Bradley | 38-35—73 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 37-36—73 |
| Graeme McDowell | 35-38—73 |
| a-Guan Tianlang | 38-35—73 |
| Michael Thompson | 37-36—73 |
| Sandy Lyle | 37-36—73 |
| Larry Mize | 36-37—73 |
| Webb Simpson | 38-35—73 |
| Richard Sterne | 37-36—73 |
| Steve Stricker | 40-33—73 |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 38-36—74 |
| Jamie Donaldson | 35-39—74 |
| Lucas Glover | 38-36—74 |
| John Merrick | 40-34—74 |
| Francesco Molinari | 38-36—74 |
| Mark O’Meara | 35-39—74 |
| Jose Maria Olazabal | 38-36—74 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 38-36—74 |
| Stewart Cink | 36-39—75 |
| George Coetzee | 39-36—75 |
| Matteo Manassero | 37-38—75 |
| Scott Piercy | 38-37—75 |
| Henrik Stenson | 36-39—75 |
| Bubba Watson | 38-37—75 |
| Ben Curtis | 36-40—76 |
| Robert Garrigus | 39-37—76 |
| Martin Laird | 36-40—76 |
| Paul Lawrie | 37-39—76 |
| Hunter Mahan | 39-37—76 |
| Carl Pettersson | 36-40—76 |
| Ted Potter Jr. | 37-39—76 |
| Ian Poulter | 38-38—76 |
| a-Steven Fox | 36-40—76 |
| Kevin Streelman | 36-40—76 |
| a-Nathan Smith | 39-38—77 |
| a-T.J. Vogel | 39-38—77 |
| Branden Grace | 38-40—78 |
| Padraig Harrington | 38-40—78 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 37-41—78 |
| Nick Watney | 39-39—78 |
| a-Michael Weaver | 39-39—78 |
| Hiroyuki Fujita | 38-41—79 |
| Craig Stadler | 38-41—79 |
| Thaworn Wiratchant | 41-38—79 |
| Tom Watson | 40-39—79 |
| Ian Woosnam | 40-40—80 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 40-40—80 |
| a-Alan Dunbar | 46-37—83 |