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| April 12, 2002 | Friday | Muharram 28, 1423 |
Unfancied Verplank sets early pace
AUGUSTA (Georgia), April 11: Defending champion Tiger Woods bounced back from a shaky start but Scott Verplank fired four birdies in his first 13 holes to set the early pace in the opening round of the U.S. Masters Thursday.
The 37-year-old Texan, who has missed the cut in all six of his previous Masters appearances, picked up shots at the third, sixth and ninth holes to reach the turn in three-under-par 33.
He then birdied the 510-yard 13th to move two strokes clear of the field on a cool and overcast day at Augusta National.
Woods, twice-Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal and Americans Jerry Kelly and Tom Pernice junior were grouped together in a share of second at two under for the day.
World number one Woods and Olazabal had played eight holes, Kelly, after an outward nine of 35, had completed 15 and Pernice five.
Woods had to scramble a par at the 435-yard first hole after slicing his drive into the right rough and then hitting his approach into a greenside bunker.
But the twice Masters champion, who is bidding to become the third back-to-back winner at Augusta after Jack Nicklaus in 1966 and Faldo in 1990, hit back with successive birdies at the third, fourth and fifth to draw level briefly with early pacesetter Verplank.
The 26-year-old then dropped a shot at the par-three sixth to slip back to two under overall.
Olazabal, winner of the 1994 and 1999 Masters titles, eagled the 575-yard second and then parred his next six holes to stay at two under for his round.
Earlier, three times champion Sam Snead launched the 66th U.S. Masters by hitting a spectator when he struck the ceremonial first shot at the par-four opening hole.
The 89-year-old Snead pushed his drive 100 yards right into the crowd, poleaxing a fan who broke his spectacles in the process.
The shaken spectator was given first aid but tournament officials later described his condition as “fine”.
Local forecasts expect the weather to remain cloudy for most of the day at Augusta, with a chance of scattered but light showers during the afternoon.
Earlier, Ernie Els, one of the favourites to capture this year’s U.S. Masters title, made the turn at one-over par Thursday after a bogey on the ninth hole of his opening round.
The winner of two European Tour events and one PGA Tour title already this season, Els had a mostly uneventul front nine parring the first eight holes.
But the two-time U.S. Open champion, found plenty of problems on the 460 yard ninth, one of several holes reworked on the Augusta National course since last year.
The big South African put his second shot in the back bunker and after blasting out of the sand two putted to slip to one-over.
Els’ fellow countryman Retief Goosen, one of the pre-tournament favourites slipped backwards after a promising start to his first round on Thursday, reaching the turn in level-par 36.
The U.S. Open champion, who won last week’s BellSouth Classic, birdied the 575-yard second and par-four fifth to reach two under for the day before dropping shots on six and eight.
That left the big-hitting South African four strokes behind American Scott Verplank, the early leader after 13 holes.
The in-form Goosen, 33, has won six titles worldwide over the last 10 months but has not played well in his three previous Masters appearances, missing the cut twice and finishing tied for 40th in 2000.
British Open champion David Duval trailed early U.S. Masters leader Scott Verplank by six shots after his first nine holes.
Duval, 30, is playing in his seventh Masters and has finished in the top 10 in his last four appearances, including a second place finish last year to Tiger Woods.
But he started the day by bogeying the par-five second hole and then double-bogeyed the 205-yard par three fourth. It was the first time Duval had double-bogeyed the fourth in 23 visits.
Duval hit his approach into the ninth to within four feet to make his first birdie of the day but was already well adrift of compatriot Verplank who had played 12.—Reuters
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