Conditions were miserable as dawn broke on the Augusta National practice range Thursday. Heavy rain. Lots of wind. A weatherman’s dream. A golfer’s nightmare.
Paul Casey was there physically, bundled up in his best raingear, getting loose and wearily preparing for his 7:44 a.m. starting time. Mentally? There were very few happy thoughts bouncing in his brain as he contemplated starting the Masters in a steady rain – and opening with that uncomfortable tee shot on the 10th hole, where he had been assigned to start his round.
Shortly before it was time for him to trudge to the tee box, the rain got heavier and the skies began to rumble and flash. That’s when Casey’s luck changed. Officials blew a horn to suspend play and Casey breathed a sigh of relief.
The timeout gave him a chance to reset his mind and alter his outlook. When the delay ended and it was time to start, the affable Englishman was ready to go.
And it showed.
Casey turned in a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the early lead in the first round of the Masters before play was suspended. It matched his career best recorded in the final round of the 2018 Masters.
“I was not relishing the challenge ahead, waking up in the rain this morning,” Casey said. “So, I felt like, to be honest, that was a very good break that I capitalized on because it was a glorious day for golf, really, after that.”
Casey started out with a birdie on his first hole of the day, the difficult 495-yard par 4 with the tricky tee shot. He birdied both the par 5s, as well as No. 16, and turned in 32. He eagled No. 2, which was playing downwind, and added a birdie at No. 6 for a 33. And he stayed dry.
“It was a great round,” Casey said. “I got through Amen Corner unscathed and picked up one on 13. It was just very, very solid golf. I did the right things when I needed to and, to be honest, you rarely walk off this golf course going, ‘It could have been two or three better,’ but I kind of felt that way. I don’t want to be greedy. I’m very, very happy with my 65.”
This is the 14th Masters for Casey, one of those experienced international players who always seems to do well at Augusta National. He has five top-10 finishes at the Masters, his best a tie for fourth in 2016. Last year was the exception when he was doomed by an opening-round 81 that he still can’t explain.
“I played some decent golf in 2019 overall, just not the first round of the Masters,” he said. “I don’t know why it was rubbish.”
This season, while many of the game’s top players have spent their time in the pursuit of distance, Casey has been focused on his tempo. He practiced hard to matching the same tempo through the bag, from driver to wedges. The biggest message came from coach Peter Kostis, who noticed Casey wasn’t swinging with as much gusto, and encouraged him to hit it harder and hopefully get back into rhythm. Based on his four below-par rounds at the Zozo Championship and the opening round at the Masters, the advice seems to have worked.
“It was all just trying to get things matched up and it seems to have kind of paid dividends the last two weeks,” he said. “It was less about chasing distance. Look, I’m 43 … I just need to hit. Guys who play with me know that there’s plenty of length there.”
He’s also savvy enough to know it’s not always necessary to try to overpower the course. On the par-5 13th hole he stuck with his regular uncomplicated formula of hitting 3-wood off the tee and leaving himself with a 200-yard 5-iron to the front of the green. On the par-5 15th hole, he swings for the fences and tries to crush the ball.
“For me, it’s funny, 13 is conservative off the tee and aggressive with the second shot and 15 is aggressive off the tee and then kind of conservative with the second shot, so they are kind of flipped,” Casey said.
On Thursday he hit “a glorious shot” to within 15 feet at No. 13 and two-putted for birdie. On No. 15 he had 210 to the green and hit a 6-iron to within seven feet and “missed it comfortably” to take birdie.
“That’s the way I’ll play it all week,” he said.
If the lead holds, Casey will try to become the 17th player to lead the first round and win the Masters. It last occurred in 2015 when Jordan Spieth opened with a 64 and led wire-to-wire.
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