Thursday at The Masters

Chris DiMarco started where he left off last year and Tiger Woods never really got started at all in the rain-shortened Thursday at Augusta.

DiMarco, who last year played in the final group alongside eventual winner Phil Mickelson, finished fourteen before play was suspended. His four-under-par total currently leads The Masters.

Tiger Woods found the water on the thirteenth… with his putter. His eagle putt was struck too firmly and rolled off the front of the green. He later birdied 15, but had an interesting front nine. Looking to make a move at +1, his approach to the first hit the flagstick and careened into a bunker. He failed to get up and down from a bad lie in the bunker and bogeyed. At the par-5 second, he chunked his driver 100 yards up the left-hand side of the hole, but somehow managed to save a par.

The 5½-hour delay threw some players off the back nine – an odd proposition when the nines are so dramatic. Ten asks players to hit a hard draw, and then you’re right into Amen Corner. While the first is hardly benign, the second is a relatively easy par five. Among those who went off the back, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, who finished today’s play at +2 and +3 respectively. Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, and Phil Mickelson went off the front and currently all sit at -2 and tied for fourth.

DiMarco, who at one point rattled off three straight birdies, was told of Tiger’s adventures. He replied rather unsympathetically “He’s got a few good breaks over his career. So you know what? Darn. It’s golf.” Mark Hensby, one of only 24 players to finish the first round, sits tied for second at -3. “You can play good shots and get rewarded, and then you can hit good shots and not get rewarded,” said Hensby. Englishman Luke Donald was also tied for second at -3 after 14 holes.

World #1 Vijay Singh played fairly well, picking up three birdies on the front nine and twice saving par with ten-foot putts. He elected to finish his last hole, the 11th, after the horn signalling the end of play sounded, and his approach came up well short. He three-putted from 100 feet for a bogey to end his Thursday play. He later said “I played pretty well today. I hit my driver beautifully and had some good saves. It was just disappointing how I finished. Maybe I should have waited… on the second putt from 5 feet. But who knows? I may have missed it tomorrow.”

Nick Faldo, the three-time champ, withdrew partway through the ninth hole, citing a lower back injury. “I can’t swing,” said Faldo. “It’s horrible. This is the Masters. I don’t think I’ve walked off in 30 years. But these uphill lies, the downhill lies, it’s brutal. It just kept tightening up and tightening up. I could hardly hit it up No. 7.” Faldo, victorious in 1989, 1990, and 1996 is one of only three players to win back-to-back.

British Amateur champ Stuart Wilson had to spend $170 to buy an Augusta National bag because his, contrary to rules for amateurs, had his club’s logo on it. Any commercial logos are forbidden, but at least Wilson’s $170 was well-spent. His bag will be a nice souvenir when he misses the cut, having carded a first-round 82.

Billy Casper carded a 14… at the par-3 twelfth. Not even Bob Tway could match that! Speaking of 14, David Toms faced a putt on the 14th hole that blew back into the fairway after a gust of wind set his ball in motion.

Pos    Player                 Today    Thru
1      Chris DiMarco            -4      14*
T2     Mark Hensby              -3       F
T2     Luke Donald              -3      13*
T4     Ryan Palmer              -2      16*
T4     Retief Goosen            -2      13
T4     Stuart Appleby           -2      10
T4     Phil Mickelson           -2      11
T4     Vijay Singh              -2      11
T9     Chris Riley              -1      15
T9     Thomas Levet             -1      15*
T11    David Howell              E       F
T11    Jonathan Kaye             E       F
T11    Casey Wittenberg          E       F*
T11    Fred Funk                 E      17*
T11    Scott Verplank            E      17*
T11    Padraig Harrington        E      14
T11    Stewart Cink              E      13
T11    Nick O'Hern               E      13
T11    Charles Howell III        E      14*
T11    Mike Weir                 E      12
T11    Shingo Katayama           E      12
T11    K. J. Choi                E      12*
T11    Thomas Bjorn              E      11
T11    Darren Clarke             E      12*
T11    Ryan Moore (a)            E      11
T11    Adam Scott                E      11*
T11    Bernhard Langer           E      10
* Began play on the 10th hole

For those counting, this is the ninth of 15 PGA Tour events that have seen a delay or cancellation due to weather. Play will resume at 9:45am on Friday.

The Masters will be on tomorrow on USA (channel 242 on DirecTV) from 4-7pm ET.