Brian Harman has waited a lifetime for the opportunity he got on Thursday. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to enjoy it very much.
The 28-year-old Savannah resident and UGA graduate teed off in his first Masters on Thursday. He even got to go out in the first group, right after three guys named Nicklaus, Palmer and Player hit the ceremonial opening tee shots. But it was mostly downhill from there.
“Not great today, obviously,” Harman said shortly after signing for a first-round 76. “I didn’t really execute anything like I wanted to. I drove it poorly, putted it poorly, just didn’t quite have it today. It was frustrating. Today you wanted to have it and I just didn’t. I did my best. I’ve been working hard, just not quite coming around yet.”
Harman qualified for his first Masters by winning the John Deere Classic last July. But he hasn’t played well of late. He missed the cut in five of his last six tournaments before coming to Augusta.
Harman actually did a good job of keeping his round from getting away from him. He had a nice up-and-down for par at 7 and saved bogey after hitting in the water. He recorded impressive birdies at 8 and 12 and just missed another birdie after leaving his putt short at 14.
But Harman finished with bogeys on 17 and 18 for a total of six on the day. That left him determined to get to the practice area and make some fixes before Friday.
“I don’t really know how the cut works around here, so I’ll just shoot the lowest number I can,” Harman said. “Hopefully it’s good enough.”
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