The South Korean dominated the Masters opening. Smith in the lead, Woods also played great

The first round of the prestigious Masters golf tournament was played in Augusta, Georgia. Most attention was naturally focused on the biggest star, Tiger Woods, who gave a balanced performance in his return to the PGA Tour circuit. At the top of the leaderboard after the top 18 is South Korea’s Sungjae Im.

The start of the opening round at Augusta National Golf Club was delayed by a few minutes due to the weather, but then the unpredictable course gradually dried out under the sunshine. Paul Casey, of the ninety-one players on the starting list, was unable to play due to injury. He withdrew just before the start of the tournament.

Sungjae Im of South Korea had the best first round with a score of -5. He had a great start to the tournament, making birdie on the first three holes. He lost two shots at the start of the second nine but made up for it with an eagle on the 13th hole.

One shot behind Imo is Australian Cameron Smith. Despite playing to a score of -4, he entered the tournament with a double-bogey, which he repeated on the final hole. But otherwise his card is eight birdies in the top 18.

“Thefirst and eighteenth holes were obviously frustrating, but I think it will motivate me in the days to come. I played really solid golf today, although being at -4 is probably a bit disappointing in the end. But given the state of the golf course, the wind and all that, if you’d given me that result at the start of the day, I’d have taken it,” Cameron Smith told the official Masters website after the opening round.

Tiger Woods returned to the golf course in good form after his car accident last year. He played a very steady round of 71 shots, good enough for a tie for tenth place overall so far. He is just three shots behind the leaderboard, birdied three times in the first round and lost one shot twice.

Overall, nine players are on a score of -1 so far. The table is very inflated around these results, with most golfers still able to hit the green jacket.

Sunny weather is also expected in the second round, but also strong winds that will trouble even the world’s best players. The challenge is clear. Not to lose the chance to stay in touch with the best, but most importantly to stay in the top 50 players who will make it through to the weekend rounds. For others, the experience at the 2022 Masters will be over after Friday.

Source: The Masters