Masters 2014: Leaderboard, live updates, scores from Thursday’s round at Augusta

It was a picturesque day at Augusta National on Thursday, and while blue skies and plenty of sun make for a great setting, it created some challenging playing conditions for the 2014 Masters field. Firm and fast conditions combined with some devilish pin placements led to the course having the upper hand in the first round. Bill Haas was one of a few players to find some success, and he’s the leader in the clubhouse after shooting a 4-under 68.

Haas didn’t get off to a very good start with a bogey on No. 1, but quickly rebounded with a birdie on No. 2. Two more birdies on the front nine allowed him to make the turn at 2-under. His best stretch came early on the back nine when he successfully navigated Amen Corner. Many players struggled through Amen Corner, with No. 11 and No. 12 being the hardest and second-hardest holes on the course. Haas parred the 11th and 12th, then followed those holes up with back-to-back birdies. His only dropped shot after the opening bogey came on No. 17. He got that shot right back, however, closing the round with a birdie at the 18th. That was good enough for sole possession of first place.

Lee Westwood wasn’t the first person to go off the course and onto the pine straw of Amen Corner, but his adventure was the most amusing of the day. Playing in the final group, Westwood’s second shot clipped a tree and somehow safely ended up on a sidehill of pine straw on the other side of the creek up left and short of the green. The Englishman sauntered back to the woods, and chopped his third shot toward the putting surface. It sounded like the ball caught a fortuitous bounce off a tree, but it was hard to tell. Either way, no one seemed to have any idea where it was going and where it ended up.

Westwood looked around scratching his head in confusion, but was told the ball was indeed safe.

Ernie Els caught an unlucky break on the 13th hole when his second shot into the par-5 took a brutal bounce sideways and rolled into the tributary of Rae’s Creek that runs in front of the green. Although the ball was in the hazard, it landed in a shallow portion of the creek, allowing Els to take a shot at hitting it out.

He was able to do just that, but not without getting hit with the splash.

Sergio Garcia is a trendy favorite to get his first major this week at the Masters. With his nemesis Tiger Woods absent, and his streaking play the past eight months or so, Garcia’s odds surged and plenty of media members picked him to get a green jacket.

Gah! I cringed and yelped loudly as soon as saw this happen.

Augusta National has become slightly easier as the day has gone on, but the course is still getting the better end of most of the field on Day 1 at the Masters. Bill Haas, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen are the only three players to card a round in the 60s thus far with Haas on top at 4-under.

Haas finished the round with six birdies and two bogeys. Scott was a little more steady, with his only dropped shots coming on a double bogey at No. 12. After the round, Scott said he thought his tee shot at the 12th -- which found Rae’s Creek -- was the only bad shot he hit all day. His 3-under 69 matched his opening round score last year when he went on to win the green jacket.

The 15th hole almost always ranks as the easiest on the course for the Masters. But on Thursday, Sang-Moon Bae made an eagle the hard way after he airmailed his approach shot over the green. Earlier, we saw Matt Kuchar rocket his second shot into the pond on 16, way behind the green. It’s rare to see that water behind come into play, but with Bae also going deep, maybe the players are misjudging just how far the hole is playing.

Unlike Kuchar, who was at the bottom of the pond, Bae still had a chance to get up-and-down for a red number. Instead, he just hit the shot of the day and chipped in down the slippery green.

Following eight pars and a triple bogey to open his round, Phil Mickelson finally notched his first birdie of the first round and all it took was one of the best putts you’ll see at Augusta this year.

Mickelson’s approach into the 10th green landed well to the left of the pin, leaving a long, breaking putt. A decent lag putt, setting him up with a gimme par putt would have been a very good result. Instead, Mickelson one-upped that, reading the 60-foot putt perfectly. Mickelson hit the putt with perfect speed, watching it hold the line before breaking some 10 feet to the right at the end.

It’s not the most uncommon sight to see a player’s ball end up farther from the hole than where he started at Augusta, and Ernie Els exhibited just exactly how that happens. The scores in the first round of the Masters are generally in the black, and the course is beating up the field of 97 players. The greens are doing the damage, wrecking rounds an playing extremely fast right off the bat in the first round.

Yikes, that’s got to be the worst, most helpless feeling on the golf course. Els would get it to stick the second time around and make a bore on the hole.

Adam Scott put an error at Amen Corner behind him to make a stellar start to his Masters defense.

The oddsmakers’ co-favorite, along with Rory McIlroy, to earn the green jacket come Sunday, finished with a 3-under 69, one shot behind early leader Bill Haas, despite finding trouble at Amen Corner.

Phil Mickelson can be a magician with a wedge in his hands. Notorious for pulling off seemingly impossible shots around the green, Mickelson’s short game is rarely the issue. It was, however, on No. 7 at Augusta with a poor chip and some putting issues leading to a triple bogey.

Mickelson began the hole at even par and hit his approach to the back of the green. He was in excellent position to come away with a par, faced with a fairly straightforward chip. He caught a little too much of his attempt and it came out with speed. The ball rolled past the pin and caught the slope of the green, finishing in the fringe.

Victor Dubuisson is the owner of the two best shots of the PGA Tour season so far. The Frenchman pulled off that ridiculous back-to-back recovery sequence in the Arizona desert back in February, and nearly added to his 2014 reel with our closest shot at a hole-in-one so far at Augusta. Standing up on the tee at the par-3 6th hole, Dubuisson lofted his shot high into the air from the elevated tee box. It was nearly a one-hop slam dunk on the easier par-3:

This is the same hole where Jamie Donaldson recorded our first ace of the week last year, but the bounce of the pin kept Dubuisson out of the cup. He cleaned up the easy birdie putt and is now 1-over through seven holes. A weekend with Dubuisson miracle shots would be good for the Masters and the game, so here’s hoping he gets through in his debut appearance at Augusta.

Despite near-perfect weather, scoring conditions have been tough at Augusta National on Thursday. Bill Haas was the first person to card a round in the 60s and he’s now the leader in the clubhouse after shooting a 4-under round of 68.

While he was solid throughout the round, Haas did some of his best work through Amen Corner. Many have had their rounds fall apart through the stretch, but Haas played the three holes at 1-under. He followed a birdie at No. 13 with another at the 14th to move into the lead. He dropped a shot at No. 17 to fall back into a tie for the lead, but retook sole possession of the top spot on the leaderboard with a closing birdie.

We’re only halfway through the first round of the Masters, but it appears Jason Dufner will not be going back-to-back in the major championships. The 13th hole at Augusta is usually one of the easiest on the entire course, a par-5 that yields lots of birdies and is even open to eagles. But the sharp dogleg left ate up Dufner, who went the other way and finished with a quadruple-bogey 9 to quickly end his shot at a green jacket.

All was well for Dufner until he got up on the slippery 13th green. He was on the back fringe in three, still in position to make a nice clean par, but ran his wedge through the green and down the bank of the infamous hazard that runs in front.

John Daly is back in Augusta this year for the Masters. Not playing golf, of course, but hawking John Daly approved merchandise and foodstuffs out of his trailer at the Hooters on Washington Road. One reporter, Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, decided to pass on the golf at the National and head to Daly’s trailer. And John is looking the same as ever, quite comfortable:

Daly, as a former major champion, actually has privileges to play at Augusta during the practice rounds and the par-3 contest on Wednesday. But that’s a lot less fun than hanging out at Hooters, drinking Diet Cokes, smoking and calling the hogs.

Adam Scott’s Masters defense got off to a good start on Thursday, but like many others, he ran into some trouble at Amen Corner. Scott was alone in the lead heading into the stretch, but is now trailing by two shots.

His round got off to an excellent start with a birdie on the opening hole. He added a birdie at No. 6 and another at No. 8 to make the turn at 3-under. With Miguel Angel Jimenez faltering, Scott moved into the lead and improved to 4-under with another birdie at No. 10. He appeared to be in control and cruising along, but then he hit Amen Corner. After hitting nine of 11 greens to begin his round, Scott ran into trouble off the 12th tee.

Miss a little putt, do a little dance, Miguel Angel Jimenez is getting down at the Masters.

Jimenez’s moves are pretty smooth, but is he better dancer than Tiger Woods, Billy Horschel or Brandt Snedeker?

The first round of a major championship is underway, which means Miguel Angel Jimenez is in the hunt. Jimenez has shot in the 60s in the first round of a major in six of his last eight appearances, according to Justin Ray of ESPN, and he is well on his way to making it seven of nine. Jimenez is currently 4-under and alone in first place.

The Mechanic played the front nine as well as any player thus far, notching four birdies to make the turn in 32. That included a stretch of three birdies in four holes to close the front nine. With a par at No. 10, Jimenez heads into Amen Corner one stroke ahead of the field.

Angel Cabrera has a reputation for showing up big in the major tournaments, no matter what kind of form he is in. Some have joked that he could roll out of bed and contend in a major, and there is plenty of evidence to back it up, including a runner-up finish at the Masters last year. If he’s going to contend this year, he’ll need to get rolling soon.

Cabrera got his first round off to a less-than-ideal start with a bogey at No. 1. He got the stroke back with a birdie at No. 3, but bogeys at No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9 had him at 3-over at the turn. Things then went from bad to worse at the start of Amen Corner. Cabrera’s approach shot at No. 11 found the greenside pond. He hit a solid fourth shot up to the green, but still had work to do to salvage a bogey. His attempt missed long, and then he missed the short comeback double-bogey putt. He finally tapped in for a triple-bogey seven.

The last time Jonas Blixt was in a major championship field, he remained in contention through Sunday, finishing fourth at the PGA Championship. If his first 14 holes at Augusta are any indication, Blixt may again be a factor on Sunday. He’s currently 4-under through 14 holes, leading the field by two strokes.

A bogey at No. 7 dropped Blixt to 1-under, but then back-to-back birdies helped him surge into the lead at 3-under. He headed into the treacherous Amen Corner at 3-under and not only managed to avoid issue, but picked up a stroke. Blixt drove the par-5 13th hole in two, hitting a beautiful shot into the green.

A well-known tenet of playing the 12th hole at Augusta National, the most famous par-3 in the world, is that you absolutely cannot hit your ball long. If you go over the green into the bunker, or anywhere else, you’ll be fortunate to have a comeback shot that stays on the green and doesn’t roll into the water in front of the putting surface.

Well, amateur Jordan Niebrugge is playing his first Masters, and he didn’t just go into the back greenside bunker. He airmailed the whole course, dropping it on the pine straw in the very back of Amen Corner. After several minutes of strategy discussion and rules discussion with an official, the Oklahoma State player decided to pull out the putter and tap the ball down the steep grade of pine straw. It looked like a perilous decision at first, and he was lucky his ball didn’t move before he made contact for a penalty.

Woods, laid up after back surgery late last month to repair a herniated disc, tweeted his regards from home after watching Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit their ceremonial tee shots to kick off the 78th running of the Masters.

The Twitter-verse greeted Woods’ comments with a variety of reactions.

Phil MIckelson, whose 2013 British Open victory catapulted him into the conversation about the best of all time, claims he is not obsessed with how historians will stack him up against the Jacks, Arnies and Tigers.

Despite his aw-shucks attitude about how he’ll go down in the annals of golf, everybody’s favorite left-handed linksman is well aware that to date he comes up short of three legends of the game in one critical category.

Turns out the two-time major golf champion had a hand in his tennis star betrothed’s switch from regulation PGA Tour spouse blonde to a color that better matched the flowery blossoms for which Augusta National is renowned.

“I just wanted it to match the azaleas,” McIlroy told Augusta.com after watching the distaff half of Wozilroy make a putt for the ages and finishing at 1-under in the family-friendly fun contest held annually before the real deal begins on Thursday.

If Tiger Woods playing well at The Masters is golf’s dream scenario, a first-time major championship win by Sergio Garcia at the 2014 event would be a worthy consolation prize.

The Spaniard is a mainstay in the “Best Player Never to Win a Major” discussion. With 26 career wins and a total of three runner-up finishes in majors, Garcia enters Augusta ranked No. 6 in the world and is in position once again to capture golf’s most coveted major.

This is a tradition unlike any other. We know Miguel Angel Jimenez’s warm-up routine by now. His profile has rocketed up because of the quirky sequence, done with the customary pre-round cigar. But it doesn’t make it any less wonderful and it’s mandatory that we post the footage from the range at Augusta National

This is hopefully just the start of a week of joy from the Mechanic, and given the way he keeps playing at 50-years old, he’ll likely hang around for awhile. But if he does go home early without a peep, at least we’ll have his contributions at the par-3 contest, where he whistled at his ball as if it were a dog that needed to come back down to the hole.