Lexi Thompson’s mistake costs fellow golfers

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Tiger Woods hasn't won or contended in over a year, his brittle back is a day-to-day proposition, and he'll turn 45 next month. He has looked old or human, take your pick. But in a PGA TOUR season that has already featured three 40-something winners (Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, Brian Gay), Thursday reminded us nothing rolls back the odometer like the Masters and Augusta National. After rain pushed back tee times three hours, five-time champion Woods, in a title defense that has been 19 months in the making, shot a no-drama, 4-under 68. RELATED: Leaderboard | Remembering the final round of the 2019 Masters "Yeah, I did everything well," Woods said after his first-ever bogey-free opening round here. "I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well. The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8. I had a perfect number with a 60-degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf." He made par on the hole. It was Woods' first bogey-free effort in his last 106 rounds in the majors, and first at Augusta National since 2008. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. "The only thing I could say is I wish I could have made a couple more putts," Woods said after taking 30 strokes on the greens. "I missed everything on the high side. Putts just aren’t moving." The added Bermuda grass in November, plus the rain, accounted for that. England's Paul Casey, 43, shot a 7-under 65 to lead the tournament. He was about to start his round when play was called on account of rain, and after a nearly three-hour delay, he played all 18 holes in postcard-perfect conditions. "That was a very good break," Casey said. Fellow Brit Lee Westwood, 47, who hadn't played here since 2017 and got in via his T4 at The Open Championship last year, made an adventurous par on 18 to sign for a 4-under 68. He's of an age, he has said, when nobody expects much from him. It's freeing. Oh, and Augusta's own Larry Mize, 62, was briefly on the leaderboard. He made six birdies and shot 70. "Experience counts a lot around here," Westwood, who has six top-10s in 18 starts here, said earlier this week. "There is definitely a knack for playing this golf course, and it’s a knack that you learn only really by playing the tournament here." The high-water mark for oldies at Augusta may forever be Jack Nicklaus winning at age 46 in 1986, but he also contended deep into the back nine in 1998, at 58. It was like an old film reel suddenly colorized and in real time. Woods mentioned that day earlier this week; if he uses Nicklaus as any kind of guide it would give him another 15 years or so to potentially win a sixth or even seventh Masters. "My body is feeling better than I did last year," he said. He proved it in the first round, when he started on the back nine and showed total command early. He'd never started the tournament on the 10th hole, nor had he ever heard a drone flying overhead, as he did absent the buzz from the patrons Thursday. "I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is," said Woods, who with one more victory would set the all-time wins record on TOUR with 83. "Everyone is going low out there today. With these conditions, you have to. You have to be aggressive. "There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags." And no reason why those who have contended in the past can't keep right on going. It's always age before beauty at Augusta National.

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Greg Norman, tournament host of the 2018 QBE Shootout, attended President George H.W. Bush’s funeral on Wednesday, so Norman didn’t play in the Wednesday pro-am. The pro-am was two rounds, however, so Norman was out playing on Thursday at Tiburon Golf Club for the second round. Of course, we took a look into his golf bag, which featured a blast from the past, as well as some new additions. We also take a look at Darius Rucker’s driver, some telling headcovers, a Kevin Kisner into-the-grain chipping lesson, a look at the clubs of Billy Horschel’s former college teammate, and the longest driver on the PGA TOUR. Enjoy the photos and the stories behind them below. The 1993 Open Championship-winning putter Since Cobra doesn’t make putters, Cobra staffer Greg Norman is free to use any putter he wants, and what better putter to use than the Ping Anser 2 he used to win the 1993 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club. Yes, it’s the same exact putter, according to Norman himself. “It sits nicely,� Norman said with a smile. “I just know where the ball is going when I put [the putter] on the ground.� Aside from the flatstick, Norman was gaming a mixed set of Cobra King MB/CB irons, and shark-stamped Cobra Tour Trusty wedges. He also had the new Cobra King F9 Speedback driver (9 degrees) in play, equipped with a HZRDUS Smoke 60-gram 6.0-flex shaft. Darius’ driver Avid golfer and famed-musician Darius Rucker was spotted on the range with a PXG XX 9-degree driver that looks to have gotten plenty of use on the course and range. Pat Perez was spotted with a less-used PXG 0811X “Gen 2� 10.5-degree driver. We’re expecting to hear more about the design of Perez’s prototype driver in the next few months. It’s a miracle I stayed away from any bad Darius Rucker song/driver puns, but It Won’t Be Like This For Long. Headcovers tell the story Golfers often express a bit of their personalities and passions throughout their golf bags. For some, they stamp names of significant others or children on their wedges. For others, they use headcovers to reveal a bit about themselves. Patrick Rodgers: He won 11 times at Stanford during his three years at the university, tying Tiger Woods’ record for victories. It’s no wonder he still carries a Stanford Tree headcover on his driver. Gary Woodland: Look in Woodland’s bag and you’ll know immediately how proud he is to be University of Kansas Jayhawk. All of his headcovers have a Jayhwak on them, but none cooler than his custom putter cover. Bubba Watson: “Do not touch.� Unless you’re caddie Ted Scott, it’s probably best not to touch. Kevin Na: The Caddyshack quote is “Oh Golly, I’m hot today,� but this is close enough. This headcover says you like good golf humor and have a fire putter. Chucky 3 sticks Charles Howell III recently picked up his third win at The RSM Classic, the first tournament he played in after switching from PXG clubs to a bag full of Titleist. We caught up with him at the QBE Shootout to check out his mixed set of Titleist 718 T-MB/AP2/CB irons and SM7 wedges. He also has a TS3 10.5 degree driver with a Mitsubishi Tensei AV-series 65TX shaft, TS2 fairway woods and a TaylorMade Tour Red Spider putter in the bag. Florida Gators reunite Jessie Mudd played on the University of Florida Men’s Golf Team from 2003-2006, while Billy Horschel was on the team from 2006-2009. The teammates of one year were both playing in the QBE Shootout pro-am this week. Mudd hits a big ball off the tee with a TaylorMade M3 driver, has a mixed set of irons – TaylorMade P-790 long irons and Mizuno JPX-900 Tour forged short irons – and he has a sweet Titleist SM7 wedge. Mudd is now the head coach of the Lamar University mean’s golf team. Billy Horschel, on the other hand, plays golf for a living, in case you haven’t heard. The Boom Stick Here’s a look at Cameron Champ’s Ping G400 Max 9-degree driver, with a Fujikura Pro 63 shaft, that he uses to average 328.2 yards off the tee on the PGA TOUR. Through the grain Depending on who you ask, the hardest shot in golf is either a 40-yard bunker shot, or a delicate chip shot off of an into-the-grain lie. Kevin Kisner sought advice about the latter from short game coach Pete Cowen. The duo worked on getting the club to set up more vertically at address, in a “toe-down� position, and getting the club to work more left of the target through impact. If Kisner misses a green this week, which isn’t a guarantee, let’s see if he employs the technique he learned from Cowen on Thursday.

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Sure, Tiger went low, finally getting off to a fast start in a tournament. But even his caddie knows there’s a long way to go.

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