Familiar faces pepper the top of the leaderboard after day one of the 2022 Masters Tournament. Sungjae Im, a runner-up in 2020, and 2020 champion Dustin Johnson lead the field at -5 and -4, respectively. Looming just four shots off the lead, miraculously, is Tiger Woods. And thousands of patrons were all for it.
Woods, the 2019 champion, made his first competitive start in 509 days. The lengthy layoff was due to injuries sustained in a car accident in February 2021. On Thursday, though, a cavalcade of patrons followed his every move like they have for more than 20 years at Augusta National Golf Club.
It appeared as if half of all patrons present on the grounds were in lockstep with the needle-mover of all needle-movers, and his day was highlighted with a fist-pumping birdie on the 16th hole that incited that crowd into a frenzy.
Soggy conditions from Wednesday bled into Thursday, but the clouds had rolled away by noon and gave way to perfect conditions around Augusta’s iconic track.
Contenders from the 2020 Masters, played in November 2020, all flirted with the lead on Thursday. Johnson, Im and Cameron Smith all held or shared the lead on Thursday, more evidence that past experience at Augusta National is one of the truest indicators of future success.
Im, the 24-year-old South Korean, fired a five-under 65 with five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle after a precise fairway wood on the 13th hole left him just a few feet to gain two shots on the field. Im won earlier this season at the Shriners Open in October 2021, but has been relatively quiet so far in 2022. Now a resident of Atlanta, the wunderkind South Korean has clearly found a course that suits his eye after finishing second in his first ever Masters in 2020.
Johnson also continued a run of stellar play at Augusta on Thursday, firing a clean round of 69 with four birdies to one bogey on the 17th hole. His distance off the tee proved useful with a recently-lengthened Augusta National and soggy conditions reducing the roll-out of the golf ball.
Smith is making his first start since winning the Players Championship in March against a world-class field. His short game prowess was on full display Thursday, sinking eight birdies to counter-balance double bogeys on both the first and 18th holes. His approach game and putting acumen served him well at the Players, the 2020 Masters in which he finished runner-up, and in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January, his first win of the calendar year.
The man with the mullet is catching fire at the perfect time and if his irons and putter stay hot, he will remain a fixture on the leaderboard throughout the rest of the weekend.
Other notable names on the leaderboard include world number one, Scottie Scheffler. The young Texan is quietly two strokes off the lead with a three-under 69. Scheffler is coming off three wins in his last five starts, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Waste Management Phoenix Open, and the torrid pace appears to be continuing after one day of action.
Joaquin Niemann, a recent winner at the Genesis Invitational, made arguably the shot of the day when he holed out from the fairway on the par-4 ninth for an eagle. He’s three shots back playing alongside Tiger Woods and Louis Oosthuizen on Friday.
Windy conditions in the afternoon on Friday could make for difficult play for the second wave of golfers. Scoring should remain in check ahead of the cut on Friday afternoon, which determines which players will get to stick around for the weekend and two more rounds at Augusta National.
