Who’s hot, who’s not and more takeaways from Round 1 at the Masters

We’re off and running with the 87th Masters tournament.

It was a wild first day at Augusta National, and the stars showed up on Day 1. It’s still early in this tournament, but there’s almost certainly going to be some big names in the mix come Sunday.

Here are some takeaways from the opening day of competition:

Masters Round 1 leaders

The game’s brightest stars shined in Round 1 here at Augusta National.

There were some seriously low numbers as things got going in the morning. The course played slightly soft, dried out as the day went, then slowed again with a few small showers during the mid-afternoon.

Viktor Hovland was the first of the three leaders out of the gate at 7-under-par 65. Hovland has always been one of the more talented players on the PGA Tour, but it’s rare he’s put it together at a major. Thursday was a heck of a start.

Then there’s the pair of Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka. Rahm started with a double-bogey six on the first hole after a four-putt. He went 9-under on his final 17 holes for a 65. To do that at a place like Augusta is absurd. Koepka, too, had himself a day, steadily plugging along to a 65. He’s been hampered by injuries and confidence issues (his jump to LIV Golf notwithstanding), but he has been an absolute killer at majors as recently as 2021. His first round is a big deal.

How did everyone else fare well at Augusta?

There’s some serious firepower at the top of the leaderboard after Round 1.

Cam Young and Jason Day are tied for fourth after firing 5-under 67s. Shane Lowery, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland and amateur Sam Bennett (more on him later) are also all within three shots of the lead.

That’s not to mention defending champ Scottie Scheffler (4-under 68), past winner Jordan Spieth (3-under 69), multi-time major winner Collin Morikawa (3-under 69) and popular value pick Tony Finau (3-under 69) are all right there.

A few other names to mention:

• Tiger Woods struggled to an opening round 2-over 74. If he misses the cut, it’d be the first time he’d ever do so since 1996 — he’s second ever appearance at Augusta.

• Fred Couples could take Bernhard Langer’s title of oldest player to make the cut at Augusta after firing a 1-under 71. Couples narrowly missed the cut a year ago. That would make for a fun weekend story line.

• Rory McIlroy *again* struggled in his first round of play at the Masters. He finished the day with an even-par 72, but it took birdies on 10, 15 and 16 to get there. He’ll need to channel his back-nine play the rest of the weekend.

• Will Zalatoris and Kevin Na both withdrew from the tournament on Friday. Zalatoris withdrew before teeing off and no reason was given. Na, playing what could be his final Masters after joining the LIV Tour, played nine holes and withdrew due to illness.
  
  

How did LIV golfers do at Masters?

Koepka is keeping the LIV Golf crew relevant heading into the second day of competition, but he’s not the only one hanging around.

Phil Mickelson played a wild round on Thursday, finishing 1-under, but he could have shot closer to 65 had he not put two balls in the water on the back nine.

Cameron Smith has played incredibly well almost every time he’s teed it up at Augusta in his career. He started hot with birdies on holes 2 and 9, but a bogey at 12 kept him from climbing higher. Still, he’s within striking-distance.

Former Masters champ Patrick Reed was also in the red after Day 1 with a 1-under 71. Reed got to 2-under on three separate occasions. Bogeys on 9, 12 and 18 cost him a lower score.

Has an amateur ever won the Masters?

Nope. Never. Not once. That’s why Bennett’s bogey-free, 4-under start on Thursday was so impressive.

The Texas A&M product has been one of the best college golfers in the country for a few years now and he’s seen as a future contender on the PGA Tour when the time comes to turn pro. For now, he’s got a seven-shot lead on the next best amateurs in Harrison Crowe and Ben Carr, who both finished 3-over.

It’s hard to imagine Bennett winning given the stacked leaderboard in front of him, but his 3-under start over his first two holes was something else. He’ll be a great story to track into the weekend barring a mess on Friday.

TV schedule this week

Second round, Friday, April 7 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Third round, Saturday, April 8 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (CBS)

Fourth round, Sunday, April 9 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (CBS)

Live stream online

You can stream the tournament daily at Masters.com, The Masters site includes streaming views of featured groups, Amen Corner and more. The Masters will also be available for streaming on ESPN+ and Paramount Plus.

Augusta weather forecast

According to National Weather Service

• Friday: A 70% chance of rain. Thunderstorms likely after 1 p.m. Cloudy, high near 74.

• Saturday: High near 50. Chance of precipitation 100%.

• Sunday: Rain likely (60%). Best chance is before 8 a.m. High near 59.

Featured groups Friday schedule

• 8:18 a.m.: Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka

• 9:36 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose

• 10:00 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett

• 12:54 p.m.: Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele

• 1:18 p.m.: Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young

Tee Times (Friday)

Augusta National moved tee times up 30 minutes to account for weather in the area.

7:30 a.m. Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Cameron Champ

7:42 a.m. Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Taylor Moore, *Aldrich Potgieter (South Africa)

7:54 a.m. J. T. Poston, Francesco Molinari (Italy), Bryson DeChambeau

8:06 a.m. Bernhard Langer (Germany), Mito Pereira (Chile), *Ben Carr

8:18 a.m. Danny Willett (England), Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka

8:30 a.m. Sepp Straka (Austria), Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Korea)

8:42 a.m. Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim (Korea)

8:54 a.m. Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

9:06 a.m. Zach Johnson, Jason Day (Australia), *Gordon Sargent

9:18 a.m. Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Tyrrell Hatton (England)

9:30 a.m. Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners (Canada), Justin Rose (England)

9:42 a.m. Matthew Fitzpatrick (England), Collin Morikawa

9:54 am Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, *Sam Bennett

10:06 a.m. Tom Kim (Korea), Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland), Sam Burns

10:18 a.m. Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood (England), Tony Finau

10:30 a.m. Mike Weir (Canada)

10:42 a.m. Vijay Singh (Fiji), Scott Stallings, *Matthew McClean (N. Ireland)

10:54 a.m. Sandy Lyle (Scotland), Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch

11:06 a.m. Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren (Sweden)

11:18 a.m. Adrian Meronk (Poland), Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa)

11:30 p.m. Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee (Australia), *Harrison Crowe (Australia)

11:42 a.m. Sergio Garcia (Spain), Kazuki Higa (Japan), Keith Mitchell

11:54 a.m. Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson (Canada), Sahith Theegala

12:06 p.m. Shane Lowry (Ireland), Mackenzie Hughes (Canada), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)

12:18 p.m. Bubba Watson, Seamus Power (Ireland), *Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Argentina)

12:30 p.m. Abraham Ancer (Mexico), Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley

12:42 p.m. Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland (Norway), Xander Schauffele

12:54 p.m. Adam Scott (Australia), Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama

1:06 p.m. Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm (Spain), Cameron Young

1:18 p.m. Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Cameron Smith (Australia), Sungjae Im (Korea)

* Denotes amateur