A 51/2-hour delay, a couple scores to forget, and other odd happenings mark the start of the first men's major.
By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
Published April 8, 2005
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The examples of weirdness were outnumbered only by the number of strokes it took one former Masters champion to play a single hole.
The first round of the 69th Masters was not complete, but the first day thankfully came to an end in the early evening darkness Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.
How strange was it?
Thunderstorms delayed the first major championship of the year 51/2 hours, and when the tournament finally got under way, there was the wayward David Duval atop the leaderboard.
Alas, it would not last, but there were plenty of other occurrences.
Such as Tiger Woods putting off the green and into a water hazard at the 13th hole. Or Ernie Els spraying his drives all over Augusta. Or a Palmer, not Arnold, under par.
Then there was Billy Casper, the 1970 winner who at 73 is playing in his last Masters, taking 14 at the 16th hole and shooting 106, both of which would have been records at the Masters. But Casper did not turn in his scorecard, so never mind.
And you know things are odd when the eccentric Jesper Parnevik has trouble dealing with the situation.
"It's tough to be game-ready before the bell rings," Parnevik said. "We want to get going. To start the day with the wait ... that's the only excuse I can give for the scores not being better."
It was another in a long list of weather distractions this year on the PGA Tour. But given the circumstances of early morning rain and thunderstorms, it is remarkable that 24 players completed the round and that the tournament stands a chance of returning to normal by the weekend.
Chris DiMarco was hardly complaining.
The former University of Florida standout, who lives in Orlando and showed 2004 champion Phil Mickelson the line for his winning putt, birdied three straight holes near the end of the day to get to 4 under par. He led Australia's Mark Hensby and England's Luke Donald by a stroke.
"I like the golf course, it sets up good for me," said DiMarco, who tied for sixth last year and lost in a playoff at the PGA Championship to Vijay Singh. "It appeals to my eye. I like the greens. I like the imagination you have to have around the greens. I've felt comfortable every year I've been here."
DiMarco, who has four holes to play, was one of 68 players scheduled to continue the first round at 9:45 a.m. today. The second round is scheduled to begin at 10:20 a.m.
In keeping with the out-of-the-ordinary theme, the Masters went to a two-tee start Thursday for one of the few times in its history. The format will continue today in order to try to get 36 holes completed.
Chasing DiMarco will be two prominent members of the Big Four, Singh and Mickelson, who were 2 under par and tied for fourth along with Retief Goosen and Ryan Palmer, who last fall shot a closing 62 to win the Funai Classic at Walt Disney World.
"With the amount of rain we had, the golf course is great," said Singh, the No. 1-ranked player in the world. "It was the best conditions we've played in considering all the rain."
Before Singh took over the No. 1 ranking from Woods last fall, the last player to occupy the top spot was Duval in 1999. The 2001 British Open champion who has fallen on hard times briefly sparkled, getting to 2 under par. He eventually shot 75.
Els, the runnerup to Mickelson last year, managed just one birdie and it was a chip-in. He hit just four fairways, played three par 5s and couldn't make birdie, and was 3 over through 11 holes.
Then there was Woods, who easily hit the par-5 13th hole in two shots, then watched with dismay as his eagle putt ran past the hole, off the green and into the water. He later hit the flagstick with his approach to the first hole (his 10th) but saw the ball bounce back and into a bunker, from where he made bogey. He was 2 over through 12 holes.
"It was a long day out there," Ireland's Padraig Harrington said.
