A pair of former U.S. Ryder Cup teammates find themselves out in front of the field after the first day of play at the 2024 Masters. Round 1 action was suspended at 7:51 p.m. ET due to darkness, but it is Bryson DeChambeau who puts head to pillow with the clubhouse lead overnight.
Catching fire during the early wave Thursday and utilizing eight birdies to card a 7-under 65, DeChambeau was clinical around Augusta National Golf Club. Ranking second from tee to green and first with the putter in hand, the 2020 U.S. Open champion put himself in a fine position to claim another of golf's grandest prizes.
In order to do so, DeChambeau will have to take down the man who stood alongside him at Whistling Straits a few years ago, Scottie Scheffler. The world No. 1 looked exactly like the world No. 1 should look Thursday as he navigated the tricky conditions at Augusta National in bogey-free fashion en route to a 6-under 66.
Racing to the finish line with four birdies over his last seven holes, Scheffler got through the worst of the conditions unblemished; instead of shriveling, he thrived. While he was unable to tack on one final birdie at the last to catch DeChambeau, he is undoubtedly the favorite to add one more major to his belt.
Scheffler was not the only Masters champion to find his stride Thursday as Danny Willett sits in third in the clubhouse at 4 under in his first start since September 2023 due to injury. Major staples like Will Zalatoris, Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed are lurking, while Rory McIlroy fired an under-par round to keep himself in the mix in his latest chase for the career grand slam.
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1. Bryson DeChambeau (-7): It was a controlled round for Bryson after he got off to a dream start with three straight birdies out of the gate. He hit 10 fairways, 15 greens in regulation and got up and down at an 86% clip. DeChambeau putted the ball beautifully on top of that, experiencing a renewed sense of patience on the golf course. He finished T29 in the 2019 Masters after holding the first-round lead.
"Winning at Winged Foot helped me understand how to win big tournaments," DeChambeau said. "But a lot of patience, especially out here on this golf course where you feel like it's gettable, you see it's right in front of you, but it's just tricky out here. It can be super tricky. Making sure that you play aggressively but in a safe manner to where it's not going to get you into too much trouble. So, for me, as my game has progressed, I've learned to be a -- I've tried to be a little bit smarter out there on the golf course and not try to go for broke and go for every flag but place it in the right position."
2. Scottie Scheffler (-6): There just aren't enough words to describe this guy. Scheffler led the field from tee to green, was slightly above average on the greens and got around a difficult Augusta National without dropping a shot. Now, it was not without a little good fortune as he holed a bunker shot on the par-3 12th for birdie and received a great break on the next when it appeared his second was destined for Rae's Creek. He skirted the water and instead added another birdie before picking up two more on his second nine, but that's what the great ones do. Scheffler's 66 was the lowest of his Masters career and his first bogey-free effort at Augusta National.
3. Nicolai Hojgaard (-5): Three holes still to play.
T4. Danny Willett, Max Homa (-4): Homa came into this week without much on his major résumé, and he is on pace to post his best ever opening round in a major championship with five holes left in his round. He impressed alongside Tiger Woods on Thursday and capped an impressive day with a nice up-and-down birdie on the par-5 13th to navigate Amen Corner in even-par fashion.
T6. Ryan Fox, Cameron Davis, Tyrrell Hatton (-3): Hatton has four holes still to play.
T9. Will Zalatoris, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Joaquin Niemann and four others (-2): One year removed from withdrawing for the Masters and opting for back surgery, Zalatoris finds himself in the major mix once again. Arriving with a stellar history at Augusta National that consisted of a runner-up performance in his debut and T6 in his second stroll, the wiry right hander is at it again. He kickstarted his round thanks to playing the second-nine par 5s in 3 under, but dropped shots on his final two holes left him at 2 under and with a bad taste in his mouth.
"That's the thing about this place, is that you get so much wind, so much swirling," Zalatoris said. "I hit 10 great golf shots on the last two holes coming in. That's just part of what it is around this place. It's playing brutal but it's a lot of fun right now. The course was very fair. Even with everything that we've gone through. Overall, yeah, very pleased."
Aberg and Fleetwood both have holes still to play.
T17. Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick and eight others (-1): There is a lot of good news for McIlroy, who signed for his first under-par opening round at the Masters in six years. He played the par 5s in even par, missed a short birdie chance on the 16th and could have easily squeezed out a couple more shots here or there. McIlroy's wedge play was a smidge sloppy leading to a dropped shot on the par-5 2nd and not aiding him in up-and-down efforts on two other occasions. Woods opened with a birdie, went back to par after the 4th and then birdied the 8th to maintain his score with five holes left to play.
T32. Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Tom Kim and five others (E): This is probably a disappointed bunch, especially someone like Schauffele who came into the week riding so much momentum. The world No. 5 made dropped two shots in his first four holes and slugged his way back to even par on the second nine. Outside of his iron play, Schauffele struggled, but he is not totally out of this tournament if he can post a low one on Friday. Koepka is only through the 11th.
T42. Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Wyndham Clark, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and seven others (+1): The defending champion got off to a nice start playing his first nine in 2 under, but it fell apart from there. A second-nine 39 was the result of loose iron swings and a little frustration boiling over. He dropped shots on 17 and 18 to come in right around the course average on Thursday.
"It's a difficult golf course," Rahm said. "That's all I can say. It's not easy. You're not really having the luxury out there of being able to miss shots, especially tee shots. Unfortunately, on that back nine I missed a few too many shots."
Rick Gehman, Greg DuCharme and Patrick McDonald recap Round 1 of the Masters from Augusta National. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The horn has been sounded and players now face the choice on whether they want to complete the hole they are currently on. Tiger Woods, Max Homa and Jason Day are around the green on the par-5 13th with players such as Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth behind them. These guys will have to complete most of their second nines tomorrow morning.
The five-time major champion hasn't made much noise, but he is right there kind of hanging around. Koepka exchanged a birdie for a bogey on his first nine to turn in even par and will have a chance to put his foot on the gas with some birdie chances on this side. Whether this chance comes tonight or tomorrow morning depends on the sunlight.
These two are kind of feeding off each other, I think. Max Homa turns in 4 under thanks to birdies on Nos. 8-9 while Tiger is back in red figures as well thank to a birdie on the par 5. It has been clinical from Tiger up until his approach into the 10th which will short side him and set up a tricky par attempt.
That was clinical from the world No. 1. Scheffler signs for six birdies, 12 pars and will sign for a bogey-free 6-under 66 to put himself just one behind Bryson DeChambeau. In a shocking development, Scheffler ranked first in strokes gained tee to green on Thursday.
The defending champion experienced a second nine to forget at Augusta National. After turning in 2 under, Rahm came home in 3-over 39 in part to back-to-back bogeys to finish. The world No. 3 was sloppy with his iron play throughout the day and never looked super comfortable en route to his 1-over 73.
The world No. 1 tacks on a couple second-nine birdies and finds himself just one behind Bryson DeChambeau. Scheffler heads to 18 with a chance to tie the first-round lead while other players like Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm are faltering down the stretch.
