Tour News
3 Things We Learned from Day 1 at The Masters
Day 1 is in the books at The Masters, and it was an interesting round (especially from one guy in the afternoon, but we’ll get to that shortly).
The weather was near perfect. The conditions were soft, and there was little wind in the morning and not that much in the afternoon. But the pins were tucked and the scores didn’t get too far under par. It remains to be seen whether we’ll buck the recent trend of Masters winners around 8 to 10-under.
Whatever the case, 18 holes are in the books. Here are the three most important lessons we took away from Day 1.
Jordan Spieth’s game reaches new heights
OK, we already knew this guy was really good prior to November 2014. Spieth confirmed those feelings with a pair of wins in the final months of the year. And his recent run of finishes (a win and two runner ups) has been off the charts fantastic.
But, come on. This round was something else.
On Thursday, Spieth somehow appeared to reach a new level of play, adding a new trick to the repertoire by wholly outclassing a major championship field over 18 holes.
The 21-year-old produced a 8-under-par 64 on Thursday, developing a three-shot lead just one day into the event and electrifying the crowd through the first half of the back nine.
The young American carefully built up his birdies on the front nine, but exploded once he reached the second side. He fired in four more red numbers at Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 14 — the last involving his nearly holing out for eagle when his ball rolled dead into the middle of the pin and ricocheted off. Suddenly, with four holes left, he was 8-under and had a decent chance of breaking the major championship single-round scoring record of 63.
Spieth faded a bit down the stretch, but still turned in a tidy 8-under total, including a stellar birdie at the last, and served notice that he may just gather that first major championship at a ridiculously young age.
Before I get too carried away, we are only 18 holes in and fellow young conqueror Rory McIlroy once fell apart in the second round of a major after holding a two-stroke 18 hole lead (albeit mostly due to the bad side of the Friday weather draw). Spieth also did have a few lucky bounces today. He had a clear opening from the trees after a horrible drive on No. 7, hit a poor birdie putt on No. 12 that he was incredulous that it dropped and his approach on No. 14 somehow came out clean despite nicking a tree branch.
Still, Spieth played extremely well and the round was classic him with all points of his game peaking. How this 21-year-old continues to find a higher level of play when he’s already near the peak, I have no idea. But it’s very impressive.
Approach play paramount among leaders
I profiled the Augusta National layout as part of my Masters Fantasy preview and I stated that this this course is about far more than just good putting.
For Day 1 at Augusta, I did a very rudimentary Strokes Gained Analysis of the top six on the leaderboard in order to figure out which parts of the game (driving, approach play, short game or putting) were most important to a top round on the first day. I also adjusted the formula a little bit because the rough at Augusta is not nearly the penalty that the average PGA Tour course offers. This is definitely not Mark Broadie quality, but I feel like we get a good baseline here.
What I found was that, almost across the board, great approach play had by far the biggest role in the Thursday success of the group atop the leaderboard.
Spieth, Els, Hoffman and Day all had approach play strokes gained of +3.0 or more and Rose’s was in the +2 range. All but Hoffman had positive strokes gained driving, but only Rose’s driving (+1.5 strokes gained) was really as powerful to his performance Thursday as his approach game.
Short game didn’t have a great effect, and putting was kind of in the same vein as driving. All but one had positive putting (Rose was at -1.0), but only two players had their flatsticks contribute as much or more than his approach play (Spieth with +2.75 and Els at +2.95 on the greens). Overall, I’m not sure if it will be like this over the next three days, but it’s something to look at.
Augusta is a course that sees the importance of all parts of the game somewhat equally, but maybe this year it will be a layout dominated by those who are nailing their approaches.
The old guard and the world’s best aren’t caving (for now)
This older generation that some had fears about coming into this event performed well on Day 1, and two of them could easily be factors this weekend.
Phil Mickelson, he of one top-10 since the beginning of 2014, posted a solid opening 2-under 70 that included an eagle and has him in a cozy position one day into the proceedings. Tiger Woods wasn’t particularly sharp — actually it was kind of an ugly round — but the chipping woes of months ago vanished completely, and the 39-year-old battled to a respectable 73 that showed passing glimpses of form.
Of course, there was then the sudden re-emergence of the 45-year-old Ernie Els. The Big Easy really hadn’t done much for the year up until today — zero top-10s and four consecutive missed cuts at one point — but he rekindled his love affair with Augusta in posting a 5-under 67 that leaves him tied for second.
The world’s best players (besides Spieth) also stepped up on Day 1. Major championships tend to produce at least a few surprising early exits from big names, but there are very few candidates at this Masters after Day 1.
Worlds Nos. 12 and 14 J.B. Holmes and Martin Kaymer both shot 76s, but besides that all of the other top-15 players came out OK or did well. Justin Rose, Jason Day and Sergio Garcia all loom within four, and a number of big names sit at 1- or 2-under.
All in all, both of these contingents appear that they won’t be knocked down easily by adversity. Even with Spieth’s monumental opening 64, it doesn’t look like any older or top players are resigned to the idea that they won’t win.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 PGA Championship
GolfWRX is on site this week at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the PGA Championship.
While we see fewer equipment changes and new gear seeding at major championships, we get a look at custom gear and looks into the bags of players we rarely see, which is just as exciting. In the case of the PGA Championship, this means a look at the gear some of the PGA Professionals who qualified for the tournament will be gaming, and LIV players, such as Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed.
Check out links to all our albums from Valhalla below and check back throughout the week as we continue to update.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Michael Block – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Patrick Reed – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cam Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Josh Speight – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Takumi Kanaya – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kyle Mendoza – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Adrian Meronk – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jordan Smith – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jeremy Wells – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jared Jones – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Somers – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Larkin Gross – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tracy Phillips – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jon Rahm – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Keita Nakajima – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Kazuma Kobori – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- David Puig – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Ryan Van Velzen – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brad Marek – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Chris Gotterup – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rich Beem WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Matt Dobyns – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Lucas Herbert – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Jason Dufner – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- John Daly – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Taylor Gooch – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dean Burmester – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
- Dustin Johnson – WITB – 2024 PGA Championship
Pullout Albums
- Ping putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Bettinardi covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Cameron putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
- Max Homa – Titleist 2 wood – 2024 PGA Championship
- Scotty Cameron experimental putter shaft by UST – 2024 PGA Championship
- Joaquin Niemann – new Ping putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Brooks Koepka’s new Cameron putter – 2024 PGA Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s Cobra bag and Aerojet driver – 2024 PGA Championship
- Super Stroke grip – 2024 PGA Championship
- Tiger Woods – 2024 PGA Championship
- Michael Block’s new TaylorMade “Proto” 7-iron, from address – 2024 PGA Championship
- Odyssey putter covers – 2024 PGA Championship
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News
Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Monday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Wells Fargo Championship – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Keegan Bradley – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Webb Simpson – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Emiliano Grillo – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Taylor Pendrith – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Kevin Tway – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- New Cobra equipment truck – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Eric Cole’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Custom Cameron putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matt Kuchar’s custom Bettinardi – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Justin Thomas – driver change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler – putter change – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rickie Fowler’s new custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Tommy Fleetwood testing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X (with custom neck) – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Cobra Darkspeed Volition driver – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
GolfWRX is on site this week in McKinney, Texas, at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson (FKA the AT&T Byron Nelson).
Last year at TPC Craig Ranch, Jason Day ended a five-year winless streak. J-Day is in the field again, as are Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris.
We have our usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums for your perusal. As always, we’ll continue to add links to additional albums as they make their way to us from the Lone Star State.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #1
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #2
- 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Pierceson Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kris Kim – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- David Nyfjall – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Jarred Jetter – North Texas PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Richy Werenski – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Wesley Bryan – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Parker Coody – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Peter Kuest – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Blaine Hale, Jr. – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Kelly Kraft – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Rico Hoey – WITB – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- Adam Scott’s 2 new custom L.A.B. Golf putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Scotty Cameron putters – 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Ben Griffin playing Maxfli golf ball
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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MASSIVE MIKE!
Apr 10, 2015 at 11:30 am
we??? learned nothing!
The dude
Apr 10, 2015 at 9:20 am
I learned that Tiger can say what he wants to the press (“I’m ready!!”)….and then revert back to swing issues. Sad to say…but Tiger no longer has it. (Nice to see his chipping is great again)
slider
Apr 9, 2015 at 11:59 pm
tiger looked good a bit rusty but much improved since phoenix
Chris
Apr 10, 2015 at 9:36 am
i dont see how it could have gotten much worse.