Augusta Masters: Hovland, Rahm and Koepka in the lead But now the bad weather is coming

Augusta (Georgia) – It is not common, on this field full of pitfalls, that the leaders of the first day fall far below par. But a sunny, warm day with little wind combined with perfect conditions on the course pushed the three who made the most of it to an excellent -7: the Norwegian Hovlandthe Spanish Rahmthe American Koepkathe best of the 18 “rebels” of the LIV, which came from a long period of crisis.

Of the trinity privileged by predictions, they are missing McIlroy (37th, in par) and the defending champion Scheffler, however sixth with -4. McIlroy lacked precision and continuity, canceling the 5 birdies obtained with 3 bogeys and a double bogey, while Rahm was very good at recovering, without being discouraged, from the bad start marked by the double bogey on hole 1. Making no more mistakes and hitting 7 birdie and an eagle on the par 5 of the 8, the Spaniard climbed the rankings, confirming himself among the main suspects for the final success.

Hovland, the (half) surprise of the day

The man of the day is 25 years old, comes from Norway and as a child, received a set of golf clubs as a gift from his father who was passionate about golf during a period of work in the United States, he hurled ball after ball on a soccer field near his home. because the Golf Club was very far away. His name is Victor Hovland and it is certainly not an absolute surprise because in three and a half years of professionalism he already has three victories on the American Tour and two on the European one in his pocket, supported by an extraordinary regularity testified by 40 cuts passed out of 45 tournaments played in the United States between ’21 and ’22. He is now in the European (and not only) elite: he will certainly be in the team at the Ryder Cup in Rome, even if the three remaining days of the Masters should not be up to this exceptional start: his 65 is born from an eagle, five birdies, no bogeys. A perfect roster.

Molinari, a comeback par

Round in simple par for Francis Molinari, which is worth the 37th place, but greeted by him with legitimate satisfaction for two reasons: because, apart from minimal mistakes, he has found that precision on the starting shots which, lost in recent times, worried him not a little on the eve; and then because a good start, with a non-trivial birdie-putt on the first hole, had been crumpled by three total bogeys halfway through, two of which in the par 5 which, instead, should really serve to recover. Knowing how to straighten the boat in the return holes, this time exploiting both par 5s for the birdie and saving the par at 18 with a very calibrated approach after shooting the ball into the audience, sent him smiling into the rented house with the whole family as soon as outside the Club. From there he will have to get up very early for his second lap at 8.24 (14.24 in Italy): a blessing of fate, given that the weather will get much worse as the hours go by.

Tiger Woods on a roller coaster

Of course, the saga of Tiger Woods and his inexhaustible will not to surrender to age and accidents has attracted an oceanic and adoring people to follow him, as always since 1997 (when, for example, Hovland was born, raised like all his peers in his myth) . He suffered, physically and in his game, he made a lot of mistakes at the start (+3 after just 7 holes), he grit his teeth and recovered to -1, then a bogey on the last one pushed him back to 54th place at +2, and therefore at risk of cutting. The announced bad weather, with a drop in temperatures and departure at 13.24 local time will not help. But very few will be willing to miss even a single shot of his: his charisma is intact; the physicist does not.