RUSSELL Knox bluntly admitted his mother could have chipped better after the disappointment of a four-over-par 76 in very tough conditions on the opening day of the Masters.
Knox, making just his second appearance at Augusta National, should have felt more at home in the bright but cold and windy conditions, but he again struggled in managing just one birdie along with three bogeys and a 14th-hole double bogey.
The effort handed the Scot a then share of 66th place in a Masters field reduced to 93 invitees following the withdrawal of World No.1 and favourite Dustin Johnson. But then Knox was not the only one struggling to get into a rhythm with playing partner Hideki Matsuyama also posting a 76, while USA Ryder Cup captain, Jim Furyk, along with double major-winning Zach Johnson, Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and past Masters winner Trevor Immelman each carding 77s.
Knox had got off to a confident start with a sweet drive at the first and while his second was just short, he pulled off a great chip shot that spun back to just a few feet from the hole for par.
He then moved into a share of second with a birdie at the downhill par-five second, but it proved the high point of his round.
Knox dropped a first stroke at the sixth and then a second at the par-four 11th before the double at the Chinese Fir ahead of a bogey at 18.
“It’s as hard as you’ll ever play today. The slopes off the greens, how fast they are, the situation is it’s pretty windy,” he said. “They said it was going to gust 40mph, but when we were on 14, I almost fell over.
“I played well all day. Overall, I was just untidy. All my bogeys weren’t bad shots, but I’ve got to get up and down. I’m a bit disappointed to shoot that round but I struggled a bit at the end. It’s just so hard. On the last I felt I hit a decent putt and it didn’t touch the hole.
“I made one birdie all day and I’m not getting up and down from right off the edge of the green, where my mum could get up and down from.”
Sandy Lyle was riding high in a share of second place when he birdied the par-four third to move to one-under par, but the 1988 Masters winner came home in ambulance, as they say.
Lyle was back to par with a bogey at seven and then completed his last eight holes in five over for a five-over par 77.
“I played very good for the first nine and I thought if I would get through Amen Corner, and maybe birdie 13 to get back one under or level, I would be very happy,” he said. “But it just frittered away. I had sloppy tee shots, and was out of position a few times.”
Lyle is remarkably contesting his 36th Masters, but sadly his 77 continues a recent trend having not broken 70 since a score on 69 of day one in 2010.
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