Masters 2017: Live results and news from Thursday at Augusta National

To those of us watching from the bleachers or our recliners, the 155-yard, par-3 12th hole at Augusta National is one of the most gorgeous spots on the iconic Masters course.

To Jordan Spieth and a host of other major champions before him (and, no doubt, after him), the lovely Golden Bell — the second hole of the three-hole, hit-and-pray-to-the-golf-gods stretch known as Amen Corner — is one of the most dangerous spots on the course.

As Jordan Spieth tapped in for par some 160 yards away on the other side of Rae’s Creek, his mom clutched her chest with a smirk and let out a loud exhale before turning to walk away from the far corner of the course that wrecked her son’s Masters just a year prior.

It had been a frustrating round in the wind to that point for Spieth, but he navigated Amen Corner in 1-under and had a chance coming into the clubhouse to finish in red numbers and back on the first page of the leaderboard yet again. It was following a recent Spieth pattern at Augusta, a place that he’s made his own in just three years at the Masters. Some spotty ball striking, frustrated mutterings to himself, clutch par saves and a number at the end that lesser talents and Augusta experts could not scratch together. But unfortunately for Spieth and his mother’s stress relief, there are bodies of water at Augusta National after Amen Corner, and he went exploring again. The 15th was another screeching halt that left a massive crowd in one of Augusta’s other famous amphitheaters groaning and murmuring incredulously about what they were watching.

The First Round of the 2017 Masters Tournament began on Thursday morning, with an emotional Honorary Starters Ceremony honoring the late legendary golfer Arnold Palmer. As the round got started on Thursday morning, all eyes were on the world’s No. 1 golfer, Dustin Johnson.

Johnson, although he attempted to tee-off as scheduled around 2 p.m., withdrew Thursday afternoon because of a back injury. He sustained the injury after slipping on some stairs in his rental home on Wednesday afternoon.

The 2017 Masters is underway at Augusta National, with golfers on the course in the first major of the year. It’s been a tight tournament, already with some drama.

Most of the usual favorites are at Augusta, including Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy. Spieth finished scoring a 75 on the day, sitting tied for 41st at +3 after his round on Thursday. One of his biggest slip-ups happened on the 15th hole, where he made a quadruple bogey. Last year, he infamously made a quadruple bogey on the 12th hole during his final round on Sunday.

The 2017 Masters got started on Thursday morning, and players were challenged all day long with the weather, specifically, the wind. Although storms suspended play on Monday and Wednesday of the practice rounds, it was the swirling wind that gave players difficulties throughout the day, blowing northwest 10 to 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 35 miles per hour. Just to give you a taste of how bad it is, this clip from Zach Johnson from Thursday is pretty telling.

One of the more challenging holes has been No. 1, which is a Par 4. On Thursday, there were 36 bogeys and five double bogeys, with an average score of 4.5484.

William McGirt and Jason Dufner, the No. 53 and 66 players in the World Golf Ranking, are co-leading the Masters at 3 strokes under par on Thursday afternoon.

Play is starting to wind down in the first round at Augusta National. It’s been a windy day on the grounds, and nobody’s been able to run away from the pack with long strings of birdies. Parity has defined the day, and if the weather is similar tomorrow, the story might not change much. That should mean a closely packed board.

Dustin Johnson was succinct in expressing his disappointment at having to withdraw from the Masters minutes before his scheduled first-round tee time on Thursday afternoon.

“It sucks,” DJ told reporters after an abbreviated stint on the practice range and putting green convinced him he could not play. “It sucks really bad.”

Last year on Sunday at the Masters, Jordan Spieth took a one-shot lead to Augusta National’s 12th hole. He proceeded to make quadruple-bogey there, catalyzing a collapse that cost the world’s best young player his second green jacket.

Spieth returned to Augusta for his first tournament round since then on Thursday. Everything was in good order for a while. Spieth was 1-under through 13 holes, having made birdie at the par-5 13th. Spieth bogeyed on the 14th to go back to even, and everything went off the rails on his next hole.

Dustin Johnson withdrew from the Masters on Thursday after falling on some stairs and injuring his back at his Augusta rental home on Wednesday afternoon and then trying to loosen up on the practice range. Johnson began hitting several easy iron shots on the range for about 10 minutes an hour or so before his scheduled 2:03 p.m. ET tee time on Thursday before retreating to the therapy area for more treatment.

“We’ll see,” DJ responded to a query about how he was doing as he and swing coach Butch Harmon left the range, according to Golf Channel. They returned after a brief respite and Johnson looked more comfortable swinging a variety of clubs until he began grimacing and rubbing his lower back.

The Masters began at 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning, and the day’s been characterized by choppy weather and lots of parity at the top of the leaderboard. Around 2 p.m. ET, there was a five-player tie atop the field, just as some of the day’s final groups were teeing off.

Belgian Thomas Pieters opened up a three-stroke lead early in his back nine, at one point reaching a score of 5-under par. But Pieters stumbled at Amen Corner, bogeying the 11th and double-bogeying the 12th hole. His tee shot on No. 12 found Rae’s Creek, the same body of water that doomed Jordan Spieth’s round on Sunday last year.

Dustin Johnson will start the Masters on Thursday afternoon despite falling on some stairs and injuring his back at his Augusta rental home on Wednesday. DJ’s swing coach Butch Harmon informed Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte at about 12:30 p.m. ET that the golfer was due on the driving range shortly. ESPN’s Bob Harig reports the same.

Strength coach Joey Diovisalvi said Johnson was “moving better, sore but going to give it a try,” according to Rosaforte.

Phil Mickelson got off to a quick start in his quest to win a fourth Masters tournament as the 46-year-old five-time major champion posted an eagle-3 on the second hole at Augusta National. Apparently, the pin placement was gettable, as two-time major winner Martin Kaymer also made eagle, holing out from 43 yards.

With the morning wave under way on a chilly and windy Augusta morning, Mickelson birdied No. 4 to get to 3-under and move into a tie with Thomas Pieters, who rang up three birdies in his first six holes. Should Lefty prevail on Sunday night, he would overtake Jack Nicklaus as the oldest player to win a green jacket.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National executes a perfect balance between hosting an event that can make you feel like it’s 1960 while also utilizing an arsenal of advanced technology that a course with fewer resources, and that’s all of them on this here planet, can only dream about.

The first thing I noticed when I hit the pristine, carpet-like turf dashing up to the first tee at the Masters was the hum of the SubAir system. Augusta is reputed for its firm embrace of decades-old traditions that many consider antiquated, but beneath that classic presentation is technology like the SubAir. Augusta has one of the most comprehensive and advanced SubAir systems in the world and it’s working to suck all the moisture out of a course that’s been pounded with rain all week.

Dustin Johnson hurt his back after taking a serious spill down some stairs at his rental house in Augusta Wednesday, putting his Masters start in jeopardy. But the world No. 1 may be good to go for his Thursday afternoon tee time.

DJ, heading into this week’s major on a serious roll after winning three straight PGA Tour events, was “up and moving around and definitely going in the right direction,” Johnson’s trainer Joey Diovisalvi told Golf World’s Tim Rosaforte Thursday morning, according to Golf Digest.

A 21-year-old Spaniard fresh out of Arizona State did the most badass golf thing of 2016. Jon Rahm started the season as an amateur, which provided him the exemption he used to get into the U.S. Open field. After finishing in the top 25 at Oakmont, Rahm decided to turn pro, which would help him get into more PGA events going forward but burned the exemption that marked his clearest path to the Open Championship.

Rahm had one way to get into the Open. He had to make the field by qualifying at the top of the Quicken Loans National tournament at Congressional, a few weeks before play began at Royal Troon. Rahm did it by finishing tied for third in his first event as a professional golfer, and then he made the cut at the Open at 21.

The Masters begins on Thursday, with players teeing off at Augusta National as early as 8 a.m. ET. Most of the first round will appear out of televised view, of course.

The Masters bills itself as a tradition unlike any other, and it definitely is. Some of that’s good; Augusta is the most beautiful course in the world, for my money. Some of it’s bad, and some of it’s frustrating for golf fans who want nothing more than to watch every second of the most famous tournament in the world. That’s impossible.

The first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament tees off on Thursday morning, with the rest of the pairings getting started on Augusta National through the middle of the afternoon.

There are a couple of live streaming options available for both the Thursday and Friday rounds, through both WatchESPN and Masters.com, starting in the morning and afternoon. Check out the Masters website schedule below, which features a lot of unique options, depending on what you want to watch. All of the action here gets going on Thursday morning, which means you could technically avoid work and watch golf all day, but don’t tell your boss we gave you that idea.

One of the greatest golf weeks of the year is finally upon us, with the 2017 Masters Tournament getting started on Thursday morning. The first golfers start teeing off at Augusta National beginning at 8 a.m. sharp, with the final round starting around 2 p.m.

Just like in previous years, the first couple days of the tournament will air on ESPN, with coverage starting in the afternoon. Scott Van Pelt will be the main host for the network’s Thursday and Friday telecasts, along with golf analyst Curtis Strange, and Tom Rinaldi interviewing the players. Sage Steele will also host SportsCenter alongside Van Pelt from Augusta National.

The Lexi Thompson rules controversy continues to reverberate throughout the world of golf, and with the epicenter of that universe in Augusta, Ga. this week, the topic of how to handle remote whistleblowers has received a thorough airing ahead of Thursday’s start to the Masters.

Those who favor ending the practice of letting armchair referees determine the outcomes of tournaments — as happened late into the final round of the first women’s major of the season on Sunday — will not be cheered to know that Augusta National officials will continue to accept communiques from get-a-life couch potatoes until the game’s rules makers put an end to such nonsense.

The 2017 Masters just got a lot more interesting, but in a very unfortunate way. The world’s No. 1 player, Dustin Johnson, might not play according to a statement from his manager.

“At roughly 3:00 pm today, Dustin took a serious fall on a staircase in his Augusta rental home,” the statement read. “He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably. He has been advised to remain immobile and begin a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication and icing, with the hope of being able to play tomorrow.”

The Masters has historically been a difficult golf tournament to find. Augusta National Golf Club, the site of the competition for its entire history, is famous for being set in its ways. Among more serious things, that includes making its flagship tournament an especially hard one to watch on television.

For years, Augusta didn’t have cameras set up on its front nine holes. The club was exceptionally limiting in how much TV coverage it allowed, for fear of depressing attendance in the galleries. Day passes to the grounds are expensive, after all. Viewers at home could only find small morsels of the tournament for years.

The music is playing. Jim Nantz’s ties are laid out for the week. The grounds are immaculately manicured and the stage is set.

It’s time for the Masters, a tradition unlike any other and one that can be especially difficult to handicap. There are champions who come out of nowhere and others who are already the legends of the game. Predicting what will happen in a golf tournament is always difficult, even with a smaller field like at the Masters. But that doesn’t mean we don’t give it our best shot to discuss and dissect what we think will happen this week at Augusta National.

If Phil Mickelson is to win his fourth Masters — and tie Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer for the second-most green jackets ever, behind Jack Nicklaus’ six — he will likely have to find a few more fairways and greens this week in Augusta than he did in Houston.

Lefty, No. 18 in the world, enters his 25th Masters after a T55 finish at the Shell Houston Open, where he compiled three straight birdies on holes 6, 7, and 8 (his back nine) in the final round, but hit only 30 of 56 fairways and 48 of 72 greens in regulation.

The Masters gets underway from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Thursday. Here’s a Masters TV schedule and how to watch.

A mix of world-class pros, amateurs, and past champions make up the field of 94 who will stroll the East Georgia grounds to compete for the 81st Masters title. Here is every one of those dang players, ranked.