2012 Masters Leaderboard: Lee Westwood On Top After First Round

“I hit some of the worst golf shots I’ve ever hit today,” Tiger Woods said following his opening-round 72 at The Masters on Thursday. After rounding into form two weeks ago at Bay Hill, picking up his first win since 2009, Woods struggled at Augusta National, especially off the tee. It started on the range in the morning, when Woods said he felt like his swing was off, and continued onto the first tee, where he pulled his shot way left, into the pinestraw.

It was a theme for Woods throughout the day -- wayward tee shots, almost always left, that forced him to scramble. This wasn’t a smooth round, with fairways and greens, the occasional birdie and plenty of short par putts. For Woods, it was a battle.

The second round of the Masters tees off on Friday morning, with Masters.com once again providing plenty of video streaming options. Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are two of the big stars and contenders who will go out in the morning before TV coverage picks up in the afternoon.

Masters.com will begin Amen Corner coverage at 10:45 a.m., and then add coverage for two featured groups and video of the famous par-5 15th hole and par-3 16th. Keeping with Augusta National Golf Club tradition, ESPN will then pick up coverage in the afternoon, just 3 1/2 hours before the cut is made on Friday night.

The overwhelming theme of the first day of the 2012 Masters was frustration. On a day the conditions were ripe for low scores, many of the world’s best golfers were left shaking their heads, wondering what happened at Augusta National Golf Club. It seemed like every few minutes, another tee shot was veering off course, into one of the many wooded areas surrounding each hole at the famed course.

And as those shots went left, right and everywhere in between, tempers flared. Thanks to many well-placed microphones, viewers got an inside look at what happens when some of the best golfers in the world aren’t quite at the top of their game.

Tiger Woods entered the 2012 Masters with momentum derived from a victory at Bay Hill a fortnight ago and as the betting favorite to capture his fifth green jacket. But after a lackluster first round on Thursday, Tiger must stalk the leaders to make that happen. At Augusta, he’s used to that.

Woods shot an even-par 72 in his first round, good for a tie for 29th on a day that coughed up a slew of red numbers; it’s the first time since 2005 that he hasn’t been in the top 25 after Thursday at Augusta. But it’s also not a bizarre new wrinkle for Woods to start slow in The Masters: all of his four wins included first rounds in the 70s (70s in 1997, 2000 and 2001, and a 74 in 2005).

Some aspects of the Augusta National Golf Club that hosts The Masters remain lamentably antiquated. Fortunately for golf fans who may not be able to get to a television, the club is not resistant to online streaming of play, and both ESPN and Masters.com will provide live streaming coverage of the 2012 The Masters during Friday’s second round.

ESPN3 will have live video coverage of the second round beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, and an encore presentation at 8:00 p.m. for those who cannot get enough of dogwoods and doglegs.

Lee Westwood tops the 2012 The Masters leaderboard entering the second round at Augusta National on Friday. But the Brit is not the only international name near the top of the leaderboard, just one of many; he may have to fend off an international bloc to earn a signature PGA Tour triumph.

Westwood sits at 5-under after a Thursday 67. He is followed by 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Sweden’s Peter Hanson, both at 4-under, and a trio of non-American players at 3-under (Paul Lawrie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Francesco Molinari) is joined by a trio of players representing the Stars and Stripes, Ben Crane, Jason Dufner, and Bubba Watson.

Despite a costly, unplanned detour through the wilds of Augusta National Golf Club, Phil Mickelson likes his chances heading into Friday’s second round of the Masters.

“Tarzan-y-ish,” is how Lefty termed his “hoofin’ through the jungle” after slicing a drive so far left he probably ran into Cheetah while searching for his missing Callaway Black Hex.

The second round of the Masters tees off on Friday morning just before 8 a.m. ET, with Americans Sean O’Hair and Scott Verplank leading off. After unremarkable first rounds, superstars Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson go off in the morning in consecutive groups, with McIlroy goes out at 10:35 a.m. and Mickelson at 10:46 a.m. ESPN should cover the last four to five holes for each player when their coverage breaks in at 3 p.m. Leader Lee Westwood tees off at 9:40 a.m. and will likely be in the clubhouse when TV coverage begins.

Tiger Woods, who shot an even-par first-round 72, tees off in the second-to-last group at 1:42 p.m. ET. Defending champion Charl Schwartzel and PGA champion Keegan Bradley will be one group ahead of Woods. The last group of the day will feature the No. 1 player in the world, Luke Donald, who had a scorecard scare on Thursday afternoon.

The first day of the 2012 Masters was certainly exciting for many players, and Luke Donald certainly saw his fair share of attention.

As most of the golf world already knows, Donald had a bit of a scare this afternoon when it was reported he may have signed an incorrect scorecard following his opening round. During his round, Donald scored a bogey 5 on the par 4 fifth hole after three-putting the green. After sinking his final putt on the 18th hole, Donald would sign his scorecard attesting to an opening score of 75. His playing partners would verify the score, as is customary, and the scorecard would then be turned over to Masters officials to be transmitted to the official tournament score center.

The only weather concern for round two of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club is lingering rain showers during the morning. The second half of the day will be drier, but cooler with more wind.

The system that brought the rain and storms to the area Thursday afternoon starts to exit later this morning. This will keep the risk of a few showers around during the morning. Once this system exits later in the afternoon it will be breezy and much cooler. Highs will only get into the mid 60s with winds gusting to near 20 mph at times.

The weather has certainly become a major factor at Augusta National Golf Club this week, with persistent rains early in the week and more storms overnight on Thursday. There’s additional rain forecasted throughout Friday morning, with mud balls already prevalent throughout Thursday’s round. On Tuesday, Tiger Woods said after his practice round that every drive in the fairway resulted in a mud ball:

Via TigerWoods.com:

Phil Mickelson embarked on a bit of an adventure at Augusta National during the opening round of The Masters. On No. 10, Mickelson’s first attempt at a tee shot went way left, bouncing into the woods after flying over the heads of the gallery. He hit a provisional, as is the custom, then went hunting.

With five minutes on the clock, Mickelson enlisted the help of the gallery. An army of people searched high and low, under trees and bushes, for Mickelson’s ball, to no avail. Finally, he gave up and retreated to his provisional after a lengthy delay.

Rory McIlroy wasn’t at his best on Thursday as he teed off at Augusta National for the opening round of the 2012 Masters. Just one year after McIlroy seemed to have a green jacket within his sights before a final-round meltdown knocked him out of contention, the young star returned to the scene of the crime. If the first hole was any indication, it wasn’t going to be McIlroy’s day.

On No. 1, McIlroy found trouble right away, recording a double-bogey to start his round at 2-over at the snap of a finger. It was quickly apparent he was going to have to grind out a score and hope to stay within striking distance.

A few rain showers will impact Augusta National Golf Club this evening, but the worst and heaviest of the rain has passed to the south. Because the rain is generally light, with the worst staying away from the golf course, I expect the first round to finish today.

A severe thunderstorm watch continues until 9 p.m. EDT. A severe thunderstorm watch means that conditions are favorable for the development of severe weather. If severe weather is occurring, then a warning will be issued for the location and those in the area are advised to seek shelter immediately.

Lee Westwood is in the lead after a first-round 67 at The Masters, giving him a one-shot advantage over Louis Oosthuizen. Both players are in the clubhouse and the first round is winding down, giving Westwood a good shot of taking the lead into Friday’s second round. Westwood, who ranks among the best players to never win a major, is on form and looks to be poised to make a run at Augusta National.

Westwood birdied the second hole before giving the shot back two holes later early in his round. A run of four straight birdies, beginning on No. 5, set the tone for Westwood’s day and put him in excellent position heading into the turn at 4-under.

There’s always some kind of controversy during the Masters -- tournament drama, not the golf club stuff -- and on Thursday, the world’s No. 1 player was caught up in what could’ve been a terrible situation.

After Luke Donald finished his first round and signed his scorecard, word emerged that his score was being investigated. Donald shot an opening-round 75, and there was some thought that he may have signed for a 73.

If you don’t like Bubba Watson, may we ask what’s wrong with you? Even if you’re not a golf fan, Watson is a reason to pay attention to the game. He uses a driver with a pink shaft -- in fact, he upgraded and the driver head is now pink. He’s country as heck, drives the General Lee and makes fashion statements on the golf course.

Oh, he also hits the living heck out of the ball. The lefty just doesn’t care and will swing away no matter the occasion. While some players go the safe route, Watson would rather get out his pink driver and hit the ball as hard as he can.

This always happens when Jason Dufner is on a golf course -- I’m assuming it happens on his local muni, all the way up to the most prestigious tournaments around. Dufner is an Auburn boy, and of course that means “War Eagle” chants. No tournament is safe, not even the Masters, where snipers are waiting in the trees, ready to pick off any “get in the hole” screamers.

So there was Dufner on 16, teeing off on the relatively straightforward par-3. And there was the Auburn fan, just too excited to hold in his “War Eagle.” He let it rip, then added a damn and let it rip again.

Luke Donald, the No. 1 player in the world and one of the favorites to contend at the 2012 Masters, may be disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard for his first round. Rumors began flying around 5 p.m. ET shortly after Donald finished his round that his signed card did not add up.

An official from the Masters initially told Steve Elling of CBSSports.com that there was no issue with the card, despite the Masters scoreboard showing that Donald shot a 75.

These showers should arrive between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT. These showers and storms could produce locally heavy rains, frequent lightning and strong, gusty winds. Because the area is under a severe thunderstorm watch, any storm that forms has the potential to become severe with damaging winds and large hail. A severe thunderstorm watch means conditions are favorable for the development of severe weather. If severe weather is occurring, then a warning will be issued for the location and those in the area will be advised to seek shelter immediately.

These showers and storms could last between two and three hours. This could cause the final groups of the opening day to be postponed until Friday morning.

Phil Mickelson is having an up-and-down day as he plods through the opening round of the Masters, battling his swing along the way. His tee shots have been wayward, forcing him to fight back and scramble along the front nine as he battles to make pars in the most difficult of ways. And for the most part, he’s done well, hovering around par for much of the front nine and making the turn at 1-over.

But on the 10th, Mickelson ran into trouble. It was easy to tell things had gone all sorts of wrong when he hit his tee shot and almost immediately looked back while saying, “I’m gonna hit a provisional.” Why was he hitting a provisional? Because he had no idea where his ball went after it bounded into the trees along the left side of the fairway.

Arnold Palmer is back in action, after a short trip to the hospital during the final round of his own event at Bay Hill two weeks ago. Palmer, who suffered from high blood pressure while at Bay Hill, is in Augusta this week, taking care of his usual responsibilities, including the honorary tee shot to open the Masters on Thursday morning. And he had a little help from some friends.

Palmer was joined by Jack Nicklaus on the first tee once again, and a third joined the twosome this year. Gary Player also joined in the festivities, teeing off with the two other legends of golf at dawn on Thursday morning. It was another cool sight to see, a favorite Masters tradition.

Paul Lawrie and Miguel Angel Jimenez are in the clubhouse with the lead at Augusta National after each opening the Masters with 3-under rounds. They’ve posted the best numbers of the day so far, but it’s far from a certainty the leaderboard will remain as-is through the end of the day, with plenty of golfers still on the course.

Lawrie and Jimenez aren’t alone atop the leaderboard, with Francesco Molinari and Lee Westwood each at 3-under for the tournament, as well. Westwood is through just 10 holes and looks strong so far, starting his first round at Augusta about as well as one could expect. Molinari is through 17 holes, with the clubhouse in sight.

Tiger Woods held pace for much of his first round at the Masters on Thursday, but similar to early leader Henrik Stenson, ran into some problems later on. Luckily for Woods, his late-round difficulty has not yet reached the historic level of bad late-round play that Stenson exhibited just a short while ago.

Noted golf enthusiast Woods was staying strong at 2-under through 16 holes and his cause was helped immensely by Stenson shooting an unbelievable score of 8 on his final hole. Woods bogeyed the par-4 17th and slipped into a tie for 10th place with 16 other golfers at 1-under.

Streaks are usually good in golf -- birdie streaks, par streaks on a tough course. Chez Reavie’s streak, however, was not so good on Thursday at Augusta National. After plodding along with four pars to open his first round, Reavie went streaking. Five holes later, he was six over part. Four holes after that, he was nine over par. Nine holes, an average of a bogey a hole.

Reavie bogeyed the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth before mixing things up with a double-bogey to close the front nine. He stopped the bleeding on 10 with a par, then opened the wound again on 11 with another bogey. After paring the 12th, he made up for lost time with a double-bogey on No. 13.