Haas Sets Pace at Masters; Previous Two Champions One Stroke Behind


Taking advantage of Thursday morning's calm conditions, Bill Haas got off to a good start in the 2014 Masters. The 31-year-old North Carolinian carded a 4-under 68 to take the 18-hole lead in golf's first major championship of the year.

The five-time Tour winner and son of Jay Haas posted four birdies on each the front and back nines - with a bogey also on each side - for a one-stroke lead over the past two green jacket winners, defending champion Adam Scott and 2012 winner Bubba Watson. South African Louis Oosthuizen also carded a 69.

Haas, who came to Augusta National Golf Club as a youngster when his father competed in the Masters, broke 70 for the first time in five starts at the iconic course. "I knew that stat before today's round, so to shoot that score was pretty good," Bill Haas told reporters.

"I had some nice putts, a couple of 20-footers. Sometimes, you're happy to two-putt those. To have those go in can certainly swing your score one way or another."

Jay Haas, who played in the Masters 22 times, is at Augusta National this week with his son, who's appreciative of the familial support. "We're staying together this week. He's on the range with me in the morning," Bill Haas said. "It's great having him at home and on the range."

Scott made the turn in 3-under 33 off three birdies, then tacked on another birdie on the par-4 10th. The 33-year-old Aussie double-bogeyed the famed par-3 12th after hitting into Rae's Creek, but came home with another birdie and the rest pars for a 69.

"There was certainly a level of comfort coming off the first today," he told a TV reporter. "The Masters is usually the most nervous I am all year and it takes me a few holes to settle down. But today I was very comfortable and enjoyed every minute of it."

Scott said he might have lost his focus on the postcard-perfect 12th after getting a loud ovation from the gallery. "I just received the most incredible ovation as I came to the 12th tee and maybe got caught up in it a little bit," he admitted.

Oosthuizen, who lost to Watson in a playoff in 2012 after Bubba hit his miraculous wedge shot from the trees, had a crazy day with six birdies and three bogeys. But he held on as the afternoon latened and the winds picked up. "Wind got a little swirling out there . . . it was tough," he said during a TV interview. "The greens are very slick."

Interestingly, the normally gambling Watson was the steadiest player of the day; he was the only one in the field to not card a bogey Thursday, posting three birdies and the rest pars for his 69. "When it gets breezy around here, the wind switches and comes from all directions," he said to a TV reporter.

"I played really solid," Watson added. "The comfort for me is I already have a green jacket." As for his strategy the rest of the week, Watson noted his goal was to find greens in regulation and leave himself a lot of 2- and 1-foot putts for par. "You really have to focus around here."

Americans Kevin Stadler, Gary Woodward, Jimmy Walker and Brandt Snedeker, along with Sweden's Jonas Blixt, South Korea's K.J. Choi and Australia's Marc Leishman, all carded 2-under 70s to share fifth.

In his first-ever Masters as a competitor, Stadler held it together pretty well with four birdies and a pair of bogeys. "I kept it in play and hit a bunch of greens and kept away from the three-putts, so it was a good thing," Stadler said.

Stadler - and his father Craig, the 1982 champion, are making history this week as the first father-son duo ever to play in the same Masters. The 60-year-old Craig opened with a 10-over 82. "I played like a moron," said the ever-candid Craig, who's likely playing in his final Masters.

Among those carding 71s was 1992 green jacket winner Fred Couples. The 54-year-old always seems to play well at Augusta National. Also at 1-under are two-time major champion Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, 50-year-old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, Matteo Manassero, Jordan Spieth, Stephen Gallacher and Francesco Molinari.

Couples believes he still has enough game to win again here. "Can a 50-year-old win here? I think so," said the Seattle native. "It's hard. I will say that. It's hard for me, personally, to play a course this hard day after day for four solid rounds. But my goal is to compete with these guys.

"I'm not here just to play golf," added Couples, who earlier this year won the Champions Tour's Toshiba Classic and has two other top-five finishes in just five starts on the over-50 circuit. "I love the course, and I would say my 71 is in pretty darn good shape."

Another grizzled veteran, Germany's Bernhard Langer, also had a solid day with an even-par 72. The 56-year-old, a two-time Masters winner, capped his round with a long par putt on the 18th that elicited roars from the patrons around the green.

Canada's Mike Weir - the 2003 Masters champion - also posted a 72 along with, among others - 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

Three-time green jacket winner Phil Mickelson had a rough start with a 4-over 76. One of the pre-tournament favorites, the reigning British Open winner and five-time major champion was sailing along with six straight pars before arriving at the par-4 seventh, which he triple-bogeyed.

"Lefty" settled down, recording two birdies through the 13th - which included a difficult, side-sloping putt on the 10th - but he bogeyed the 14th and doubled the par-5 15th when his third shot into the green spun back and into the creek fronting the green.

"It wasn't the best day for me," Mickelson later told reporters. "It was just mental mistakes . . . I wasn't sharp. Throughout the day, I had pretty good control over where I wanted the ball to go. I was hitting it where I wanted . . . I [just] made a lot of mistakes around the greens and threw away a ton of shots."

Angel Cabrera, who tied Scott in regulation last year with a wonderful birdie on the 72nd but lost to the Aussie in a sudden-death playoff, also had a tough outing, carding two birdies, five bogeys and a triple on the par-4 11th for a 78. The Argentine won a green jacket in 2009.

Former No. 1 Luke Donald thought he had posted a 77. But officials later determined the Englishman had touched the sand in a bunker on the ninth hole, tacking on a two-stroke penalty for a 79.

Two young Brits - 2013 U.S. Amateur champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and Garrick Porteous - were low amateurs after Round 1 following 4-over 76s.

"Just trying to realize where I am. I'm playing a major championship with only the best golfers in the world right now today," said Fitzpatrick of his round. "And just realizing that I'm only 19, as well. So hopefully a few more years of growing up a little bit and getting a little bit wiser, might make life a little bit easier. It's not easy out here."

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