Full coverage of the first day’s play at Augusta

• Click refresh to update or click the auto-update button • Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Read Lawrence Donegan’s Masters preview • Official Masters leaderboard 4.20pm: Paul Kay had to jinx Na; he’s bogeyed 11 to drop back to even par. No drama to speak of at the moment, but good to note that the aforementioned 2007 Open champion, Padraig Harrington, has birdied 5 after a steady run of pars: he’s -1. 4.15pm: Fisher nearly picks up his seventh birdie of the day on 13, a huge left to right breaker that’s this close to dropping into the hole, but dies right just in front of the cup. That was a fine stroke, though. “I see Kevin Na has moved up to fifth place at -1,” writes Paul Kay. “If he had 10 sons who were all excellent golfers the leaderboard could read like the opening of the chorus to Hey Jude.” Wasn’t that the coda? Hey Jude doesn’t really have a chorus, does it? And Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In called; they want their joke back. 4.10pm: Tiger is out and about; he’s parred the 1st. Behind him is Sergio Garcia, who manages to avoid running up a quadruple bogey on the hole, also parring the first. The only way is down. I have absolutely no expectations for Sergio these days. That way, he can’t hurt me any more. I still haven’t quite got over the 2007 Open, much as I like Harrington. Oh Sergio! 4.05pm: The much-fancied Lee Westwood is out, and his latest bid for second place has started unevenly: a bogey five on 1, followed by a birdie 4 on 2. He’s level par, but then you could have worked that out yourself. Unless you were reading the official Masters scoreboard, which is trying to be too clever for its own good with a fancy new interface offering multiple views: one that looks like the on-course scoreboards, and is therefore slightly confusing if you want facts fast, another more traditionally rendered list that crashes your PC. “What is the story with that Masters website?” splutters Evan Fanning, of this parish. “I was trying to see how Dustin Johnson was getting on before I threw my money on him but it kept crashing my computer. Stuck my money on him anyway and now found out he’s four over after seven holes and has gone from 33/1 (which I took) to 45/1. Balls.” Never mind, he’ll have only found an extravagent way to melt down around Amen Corner on Sunday anyway. If it was possible to find a route through 11, 12 and 13 like this – - he’d manage to find it. 3.50pm: Two putts for Lyle, who stays at +1. Fisher and Goosen lead on -4, after 12 and 4 holes respectively. Here’s Ian Burch on Stewie Griffin drinking soda (see preamble): “I’d be even more excited if Glenn Quagmire was caddying for Tiger this week. Giggity, giggity.” Not an hour in, and you’ve started riffing on his pain already. Can a man not get divorced after crashing into a water hydrant then apologising profusely on live television in order to keep his multi-million pound endorsements in peace? Leave him alone! 3.45pm. Brilliant from Ross Fisher, who is the boss of Amen Corner so far. After that ludicrous birdie on 11, he finds the bunker at the front of 12, just over Rae’s Creek. He’s got a hell of a chip facing him, but with not much green to work with, splashes out wonderfully, the ball rolling to three feet. He saves par. Goosen, meanwhile, has joined him in the lead on -4, having only played four holes! And here’s Sandy Lyle, now one over coming down 11. He’s in the trees, but no matter: he Mickelsons one out of the woods and down the hill, the ball working its way onto the front of the green before breaking left and rolling to 20 feet of the hole. That shot’s been met with warm appreciation by the locals, who probably know a thing or two about hacking around these woods. Imagine having to play this course! I could die happy, even if I carded 150 while doing it. 3.35pm: OK, sorry for the slow updates: technical issues a-go-go. Here’s some vital news, though, relayed by carrier pigeon: Rory McIlroy has birdied three in a row to move to three under after 4, while Fisher has raked in a 60-footer on 11 to move to -4. This is a very promising start for the Europeans already. We’ll be up and running smoothly soon, unless I smash this computer into pieces so small you could sieve them through the airholes in the fingers of a golf glove. 3.15pm: In other news, two-time US Open champions Retief Goosen has come out of the traps flying, holing his second at 1 for eagle. He’s on his own in second place behind Fisher, not that any of this really matters at the moment, a shot ahead of Brandt Snedeker, Aaron Baddeley, Hiroyuki Fujita… and, hello, Martin Laird of Scotland and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. Let’s hope everyone keeps this up all weekend. Anyway, it’s 3pm, the tournament is well underway – and who’s this on the leaderboard? Sandy Lyle, that’s who! He started with a bogey on the 1st,then another on the par-three 4th, but has bounced back with birdies on 6 and 8. Admittedly this only puts him at even par, with few players so far out, but whatever: he’s only three off the lead – held by Ross Fisher, who’s only parred two of his first nine holes, going out in 33 strokes – and there’s nothing you can say that makes it not so. The Masters!!! Current levels of excitement = (Open + Ryder Cup) x ( Noddy Holder announcing what season it is + Stewie Griffin drinking soda ). [DISCLAIMER: We have the right to perform a complete u-turn on this when the first players are about to tee off at Sandwich in July, or/and when Mickelson holds a 16-shot lead as he ambles round Amen Corner on Sunday whistling] Sandy Lyle’s bunker shot at 18 in 1988. Phil Mickelson’s six-iron at 13 in 2010. Tiger’s chip at 16 in 2005. Seve’s procession in 1980. Gene Sarazen’s albatross at 15 in 1935. Gary Player’s 64 to come from seven back in 1978. Sandy Lyle’s putt at 18 in 1988. Greg Norman’s collapse in 1996. Jack Nicklaus’s back-nine charge in 1986. Sandy Lyle’s little dance on the green at 18 in 1988. And we’ve only just scratched the surface. It’s the Masters, folks! Masters 2011 The Masters Golf Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Full coverage of the first day’s play at Augusta

April 7, 2011 | Filed under: News,Politics,World News | Posted by:

• Click refresh to update or click the auto-update button • Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Read Lawrence Donegan’s Masters preview • Official Masters leaderboard 4.20pm: Paul Kay had to jinx Na; he’s bogeyed 11 to drop back to even par. No drama to speak of at the moment, but good to note that the aforementioned 2007 Open champion, Padraig Harrington, has birdied 5 after a steady run of pars: he’s -1. 4.15pm: Fisher nearly picks up his seventh birdie of the day on 13, a huge left to right breaker that’s this close to dropping into the hole, but dies right just in front of the cup. That was a fine stroke, though. “I see Kevin Na has moved up to fifth place at -1,” writes Paul Kay. “If he had 10 sons who were all excellent golfers the leaderboard could read like the opening of the chorus to Hey Jude.” Wasn’t that the coda? Hey Jude doesn’t really have a chorus, does it? And Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In called; they want their joke back. 4.10pm: Tiger is out and about; he’s parred the 1st. Behind him is Sergio Garcia, who manages to avoid running up a quadruple bogey on the hole, also parring the first. The only way is down. I have absolutely no expectations for Sergio these days. That way, he can’t hurt me any more. I still haven’t quite got over the 2007 Open, much as I like Harrington. Oh Sergio! 4.05pm: The much-fancied Lee Westwood is out, and his latest bid for second place has started unevenly: a bogey five on 1, followed by a birdie 4 on 2. He’s level par, but then you could have worked that out yourself. Unless you were reading the official Masters scoreboard, which is trying to be too clever for its own good with a fancy new interface offering multiple views: one that looks like the on-course scoreboards, and is therefore slightly confusing if you want facts fast, another more traditionally rendered list that crashes your PC. “What is the story with that Masters website?” splutters Evan Fanning, of this parish. “I was trying to see how Dustin Johnson was getting on before I threw my money on him but it kept crashing my computer. Stuck my money on him anyway and now found out he’s four over after seven holes and has gone from 33/1 (which I took) to 45/1. Balls.” Never mind, he’ll have only found an extravagent way to melt down around Amen Corner on Sunday anyway. If it was possible to find a route through 11, 12 and 13 like this – - he’d manage to find it. 3.50pm: Two putts for Lyle, who stays at +1. Fisher and Goosen lead on -4, after 12 and 4 holes respectively. Here’s Ian Burch on Stewie Griffin drinking soda (see preamble): “I’d be even more excited if Glenn Quagmire was caddying for Tiger this week. Giggity, giggity.” Not an hour in, and you’ve started riffing on his pain already. Can a man not get divorced after crashing into a water hydrant then apologising profusely on live television in order to keep his multi-million pound endorsements in peace? Leave him alone! 3.45pm. Brilliant from Ross Fisher, who is the boss of Amen Corner so far. After that ludicrous birdie on 11, he finds the bunker at the front of 12, just over Rae’s Creek. He’s got a hell of a chip facing him, but with not much green to work with, splashes out wonderfully, the ball rolling to three feet. He saves par. Goosen, meanwhile, has joined him in the lead on -4, having only played four holes! And here’s Sandy Lyle, now one over coming down 11. He’s in the trees, but no matter: he Mickelsons one out of the woods and down the hill, the ball working its way onto the front of the green before breaking left and rolling to 20 feet of the hole. That shot’s been met with warm appreciation by the locals, who probably know a thing or two about hacking around these woods. Imagine having to play this course! I could die happy, even if I carded 150 while doing it. 3.35pm: OK, sorry for the slow updates: technical issues a-go-go. Here’s some vital news, though, relayed by carrier pigeon: Rory McIlroy has birdied three in a row to move to three under after 4, while Fisher has raked in a 60-footer on 11 to move to -4. This is a very promising start for the Europeans already. We’ll be up and running smoothly soon, unless I smash this computer into pieces so small you could sieve them through the airholes in the fingers of a golf glove. 3.15pm: In other news, two-time US Open champions Retief Goosen has come out of the traps flying, holing his second at 1 for eagle. He’s on his own in second place behind Fisher, not that any of this really matters at the moment, a shot ahead of Brandt Snedeker, Aaron Baddeley, Hiroyuki Fujita… and, hello, Martin Laird of Scotland and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. Let’s hope everyone keeps this up all weekend. Anyway, it’s 3pm, the tournament is well underway – and who’s this on the leaderboard? Sandy Lyle, that’s who! He started with a bogey on the 1st,then another on the par-three 4th, but has bounced back with birdies on 6 and 8. Admittedly this only puts him at even par, with few players so far out, but whatever: he’s only three off the lead – held by Ross Fisher, who’s only parred two of his first nine holes, going out in 33 strokes – and there’s nothing you can say that makes it not so. The Masters!!! Current levels of excitement = (Open + Ryder Cup) x ( Noddy Holder announcing what season it is + Stewie Griffin drinking soda ). [DISCLAIMER: We have the right to perform a complete u-turn on this when the first players are about to tee off at Sandwich in July, or/and when Mickelson holds a 16-shot lead as he ambles round Amen Corner on Sunday whistling] Sandy Lyle’s bunker shot at 18 in 1988. Phil Mickelson’s six-iron at 13 in 2010. Tiger’s chip at 16 in 2005. Seve’s procession in 1980. Gene Sarazen’s albatross at 15 in 1935. Gary Player’s 64 to come from seven back in 1978. Sandy Lyle’s putt at 18 in 1988. Greg Norman’s collapse in 1996. Jack Nicklaus’s back-nine charge in 1986. Sandy Lyle’s little dance on the green at 18 in 1988. And we’ve only just scratched the surface. It’s the Masters, folks! Masters 2011 The Masters Golf Scott Murray guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.