Masters Notebook: Dustin Johnson overcomes ugly start to post 70

Dustin Johnson had a shaky, even sloppy start Thursday to his opening round of the 79th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.

After making par on the first two holes, he hit a drive within 20 yards of the green on the 350-yard third hole, only to chunk a chip shot to barely reach the green and three-putt for bogey from 25 feet, lipping out a 6-footer for par.

“On 3 I couldn’t be in a better spot. Every now and again out here you get some grass in between the ball and it rolled up the face and came up short,” Johnson said. “I hit the first shot the way I wanted to. The rest I didn’t.”

On the 240-yard par-3 fourth that featured a back left pin, Johnson found the right front bunker 30 yards short of the flag and his second shot was still short of the back level of the green, leading to a two-putt for another bogey. “I almost whiffed it on 4, then I was plugged in the face of the bunker,” Johnson said. “But I had a lot of golf left to play. I’d rather be 2 over through 4 than 2 over through 17.”

Johnson made use of his remaining holes, playing them 4 under to shoot a 2-under 70 and climb into the top 12 after 18 holes, six strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth.

Johnson quickly bounced back with birdies on the fifth and sixth holes, bombing a drive on the 455-yard par-4 fifth hole to set up a wedge to 8 feet for birdie, and holing an 8-foot birdie putt on the 180-yard par-3 sixth.

“That was really important for sure,” Johnson said of his consecutive birdies. “Especially going 2 over through four, and 5 is a difficult hole and I hit a great drive there to where I could hit sand wedge.”

A bogey followed on the seventh with a 3-putt from 45 left of the hole after Johnson had a short iron approach from the fairway, he got up and down from well left of the green on the par-5 eighth for birdie and missed a 5-foot uphill birdie putt on the 10th to make the turn even par.

He rolled in a turning 30-footer for birdie on the 10th to get into red numbers. “That was definitely a bonus,” Johnson said. “I think it was going a little fast when it hit the hole but it went in. I was excited to see it go in for sure.”

He saved par with a 10-foot putt on 11 and made a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th. After having a bunker shot for eagle trickle over the right lip on the par-5 15th he missed the 6-foot comebacker for birdie to remain 2 under.

He overcame tee shots into right trees with limited options on both 17 and 18 with quality greenside bunker and pitch shots to save pars.

“[A] 70 in the first round here, you’re not out of it, that’s for sure,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m playing well. From [hole] five in I played 4 under, that’s pretty solid, so I’m not disappointed with that. And I missed quite a few short putts for birdie. I hit good putts they just didn’t go in.”

The 70 is Johnson’s second-best opening round in six Masters appearances. He opened with a 67 in 2013 but followed it with a second-round 76 en route to a tie for 13th.

Knocking on door

Maybe this will be Jason Day’s major championship breakthrough.

The 27-year-old Australian has finished as a runner-up in major championships three times, including the 2011 Masters, and his record at Augusta National also includes a third-place finish in 2013.

He quickly climbed up the leaderboard Thursday afternoon with five consecutive birdies on the back nine that completed a run of seven birdies in nine holes. He birdied holes 8, 9 and 12 through 16 to temporarily reach 6 under and is tied for second at 5-under 67.

“I just knew that if I could just be patient and give myself opportunities, especially on the back nine, I could get something going,” said Day, who outwardly enjoyed the run with jovial laughter on several holes.

He bogeyed the 17th hole and had to get up and down to save par on 18 to remain tied for second.

“To be able to get up-and-down there on the last hole, especially the way I did, especially with the birdie run I had on the back nine, that was special. So three more days left,” he said.

Day, considered for the past few years one of golf’s potential superstars, has three PGA Tour wins, including the 2014 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.

Amateurs hour

The best amateur in the Carolinas has his sights set on being the best amateur at Augusta National this week, and he’s got some work to do Friday to earn that distinction. But it is within grasp.

The low Masters amateur receives a Silver Cup, but he has to make the cut to be recognized with the hardware. Harvey shot a 76 Thursday to tie for the second-best amateur round with Matias Dominguez of Chile, two strokes behind Byron Meth of San Diego, the U.S. Amateur Public Links champion.

There are seven amateurs in the field this week, and if the cut were made Thursday night it would be at 1 over.

“I was trying to put expectations aside, but I know what I’m capable of,” said Harvey, 36, who won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am to earn his first Masters invitation. “I know I can be the low amateur and know what I can do, you just have to have it all going and unfortunately part of it was missing today.

“I hit the ball well all day but you can’t putt much worse than I did, it was awful. But that’s Augusta. It’s just hard to make putts out here.”

Harvey made six bogeys and two birdies, hit 10 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 33 putts.

Harvey, of Greensboro, N.C., has a wife and son and owns the property management company S&K Triad Properties. He had a lot of support Thursday. “Everywhere I went they were yelling from all corners of everywhere for me,” he said. “It was cool. It was real special for me.”

He said he slept well Wednesday night because he nearly exhausted himself through the early part of the week. “I thought I’d be really nervous but I was just really pumped up and excited,” Harvey said.

Though he was unable to play a practice round as anticipated with Ben Crenshaw, who played and traveled with Harvey’s father, Bill, a lifelong amateur who played in 15 U.S. Amateurs and died in 2013, Harvey has still had quite a week.

He played practice rounds with Webb Simpson, Ryan Palmer, Billy Horschel and Hideki Matsuyama, had 5-year-old son Cameron caddie for him in the Wednesday Par 3 contest, and played the first round with 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman and Kevin Stadler. “On a scale of 1 to 10 it’s 3,000. It’s unbelievable,” said Harvey, who joined his father as a Carolinas Amateur champion in 2011 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club. “This is one of those things in life you can never duplicate.”

Nostalgia time

Thursday of Masters week always provides a bit of nostalgia with the ceremonial first tee shot, and the triumvirate of Masters history Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer, who have 13 green jackets between them, did the honors again early Thursday morning on the first tee box.

Fifty years ago, the three were tied for the lead after the second round at Augusta National. Nicklaus went on to win the second of his six jackets, and they recounted the occasion following their shots Thursday.

What was that year, 1965? I remember who the third round [leader] was,” said Nicklaus, now 75.

“I remember it; the wrong man won,” replied Player, 79.

“I don’t remember anything,” deadpanned Palmer, 85.

The slapstick routine by three of golf’s greatest ever ambassadors continued for nearly 30 minutes in the media center, and as usual, was something to behold.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Masters Notebook: Dustin Johnson overcomes ugly start to post 70."