Tiger Woods faced the prospect of completing 23 holes in one day as he looked to keep his hopes of a record-equalling sixth Masters title alive on Friday.
Woods was among the 27 players who were unable to finish their first rounds on Thursday at Augusta National after bad weather meant the start of play had been delayed by two and a half hours.
The 15-time major winner managed to complete 13 holes in one under par to lie six shots off the pace set by former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, with pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler just a shot behind following a flawless 66.
Scheffler came into the week with form figures of 1-1-2 and the biggest obstacle to a third win in four starts would appear to be his wife Meredith going into labour with their first child.
“The nursery is not quite ready and we’ve had some issues at our house the last few weeks,” Scheffler said. “I think that’s the exciting part. I think we are definitely underprepared to be parents.
“As far as her going into labour, I wouldn’t say I’m very concerned. We haven’t seen any of the early signs. But pregnancy is weird. It can happen at any time.
“Yeah, [we have] open lines of communication and she can get a hold of me if she needs to. I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
Shot of the day
Scottie Scheffler's bunker shot on No. 12 finds the hole for birdie. #themasters pic.twitter.com/urr9NMj8gV
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
Scottie Scheffler holed out from a bunker on the 12th for his third birdie in a flawless 66.
Statistic of the day
26 of the last 30 winners of #TheMasters have been at/within 5 shots of the lead after round 1.
90.5% of men's major winners since 2000 have been at/within 5 after round 1.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 11, 2024
Top statistician Justin Ray highlights the tough task facing anyone carding one under par or worse in round one.
Quote of the day
Hardest hole
With three players yet to complete the hole, the 11th was narrowly ranked the hardest hole ahead of the 18th, with six birdies, 32 bogeys and three double bogeys giving a scoring average of 4.372.
Easiest hole
The par-five eighth played downwind and yielded three eagles, 50 birdies and just three bogeys for a scoring average of 4.404.
Tee times
The first round will resume at 0750 local time (1250BST), with the second round getting under way at 0800.
Weather forecast
Slightly cooler and less humid conditions return Friday with mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 70s. It will continue to be windy out of the west at 15-20mph, with gusts up to 30mph throughout the day. After a cool start on Saturday morning, temperatures will rebound nicely this weekend with highs in the upper 70s Saturday and low to mid 80s on Sunday with plentiful sunshine.
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