What Lincoln is Thinkin’ - First Round Wrap-up

What Lincoln is Thinkin'

Chad hangin' in there

Chad Campbell leads by himself after the first round. The four-time winner on the PGA Tour has won some big events, like the '03 Tour Championship and the '06 Bob Hope. He has two top five finishes in majors history but he is looking for his first victory. The Ryder Cupper definitely has a chance to be around come weekend time, but there are some talented players at heels, so I wouldn't bet that this is his year.

Up and down day for Dustin

CCU product Dustin Johnson probably could not have envisioned a better front nine to start his Masters experience. Despite feeling a little jittery, Johnson hit a perfect drive off of one, parred the hole but birdied second and third. He finished the front nine at -2, which at the time put him in second place for the tournament. DJ reached a bump in the road at the start of the back nine. On the par 4 tenth, he put his tee shot in the far woods to the right. His second shot did not get out of the woods, the second shot put him on the 15 tee box. He double bogeyed that hole, then double bogeyed 11 after putting his tee shot in the woods, and his second shot in the water. In a half hour, Johnson went from -2 to +2. But he birdied three holes by the time the round was over (including a birdie on the tough par 5 15th, and then a great tee shot on the par 3 16th, that gave him a 4 foot birdie putt.) Johnson seemed pleased with his even-par 72, which puts him in a tie for 38th going into Friday.

Gorgeous weather

The story at Augusta is the weather. The wind never came on Thursday, leaving almost 40 golfers in the red. Clemson grad D.J. Trahan had his best round in three Masters tournaments, with an even par 72, but he was visibly disappointed that he did not shoot better. Rain and possibly hail is in the forecast for late in the day tomorrow, so depending on how quickly that storm moves, things could get dicey.

Thursday Awards

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Retief Goosen. There are plenty of guys who shot +2 or worse that should not have played that poorly. Ernie Els, Anthony Kim and K.J Choi, are good examples. But Goosen has been playing well all year, and you got the feeling like this could be his year. Doesn't look like it.

BEST DRESSED: Geoff Ogilvy. Deep royal blue shirt with white hat, vest and pants. Very smoove. Not sure what "smoove" means, but seems right in that context. I think I got too much sun.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Larry Mize. The 1987 Masters champ sits just two strokes back after one round. A dream round for a golfer that doesn't play that much anymore.

PRESS BOX DELICACY OF THE DAY: Cranberry white chocolate chip cookies. Awesome.

RIDICULOUS MEMORABILIA SHOP ITEM OF THE DAY: A foot long commemorative putter for $18. Unless you are an oompa-loompa, you cannot use this for anything whatsoever. You could use that money to purchase a visor, or a flag, or three ballmarkers. Why spend it on something that has no purpose whatsoever?


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