AUGUSTA -- The last time Billy Payne presided over a gathering of nations like this, the supersized french-fry-container cauldron burned brightly over Atlanta's Olympic Stadium.
There seemed no less a worldly theme Thursday at the Masters than back at those 1996 Games. Nineteen golfers from 11 countries were among the 30 players under par after the first round.
Six of the seven continents were represented in that group -- only Antarctica was shut out, the whole being-uninhabited thing really stunting its junior golf program.
The international contingent was led by 21-year-old Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, a Tolkien golfer if ever there was one with his short stature, round features and lilting brogue. And by Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, the 28-year-old aspiring successor to Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Their impeccable 7-under 65s gave them a two-shot cushion over Koreans K.J. Choi and Y.A. Yang. More familiar to the locals was former Georgia Tech golfer Matt Kuchar, in a tie for third at 4-under 68.
It was a day to take advantage of Augusta National’s good mood. Those who didn’t were particularly vexed.
"It doesn't get any easier than this," said Dustin Johnson, the longest hitter on earth and one of the pretournament favorites who nevertheless shot 74 on Thursday.
“The pins were set up for scoring,” said McIlroy’s countryman and defending U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell. He also let the opportunity get away, shooting 74.
Mostly, though, the world showed that is knows how to go low.
Former Atlanta Olympic boss Payne, in his next life as the Masters chairman, has repeatedly spoken of using the tournament as a vehicle to spread golf around the world. The Masters fields have reflected this growing outreach during his reign -- the past three have featured the three largest international fields ever (this year, 52 of 99 players are from outside the United States).
The payoff comes on days like this, when the leader board becomes a human world almanac. There’s obviously a little more going on out there than soccer and a weird attraction to David Hasselhoff.
The day’s theme was set early in the morning, when South African Retief Goosen holed out his 8-iron from 161 yards for eagle on the par-4 first hole. “Decent shot,” he said, displaying one of his nation’s leading exports -- understatement. He finished at 2-under 70.
The world stands still for no man. You dally at the Masters on a day like this, you get run over.
That goes for defending champion Phil Mickelson, who was spray-painting drives all over the property, hitting but four of 14 fairways and doing well to shoot 70. “I didn’t shoot myself out of it, but I didn’t make up ground on the field the way I wanted to [finishing with a sloppy bogey on 18]. I’ve got to go do it tomorrow,” he said.
As well as for that other fairly well-known Yank, Tiger Woods. His 71, despite back-to-back bogeys to begin the back nine, had him looking up at a lot of names, many of them he couldn’t spell without the aid of a European or Asian Tour Guide. But he sounded hopeful.
“We have a long grind ahead of us. The temperature’s supposed to warm up, and I’m sure they will start making the pins a little more difficult as the week goes on,” he warned.
McIlroy is no stranger to playing from the early lead in a major. The first time, that did not go so well.
At last year’s British Open, he tied the record for low round in a major, 63, in the first round at St. Andrews. The next day, in a gale, he blew up to 80.
Even for his tender age, McIlroy already is playing in his third Masters and is a grizzled vet of nine majors. He figures his experience will help him better cope with the stress of today’s second round.
“Yeah, I think [the St. Andrews trauma] will be a massive help to me,” he said. “I’ll be thinking about it, and I’ll be thinking about how I can do things better [Friday] than I did that day in St. Andrews.”
Playing in a trio almost young enough to be considered a boy band -- joining 22-year-old Rickie Fowler and 23-year-old Jason Day -- McIlroy seemed most comfortable Thursday.
It showed in the bogey-free 65, in which he required just 26 putts, second lowest in the field. Among those were a couple of misses from 6 feet in that could have made his round even more special. But, he said, “I’ll take 65 all day.”
Bringing the world together, as Payne has preached, is an educational experience for everyone concerned.
On a day like Thursday, America learned that it has no room for golfing conceit, that it must share the game.
And a young man from Northern Ireland said he was picking up on the true meaning of football. So relaxed was McIlroy before the first major of the year that he and some friends bought an American football at an Augusta mall Wednesday and spent the evening tossing it around outside his rented home.
He was most pleased to report that has learned to throw an acceptable spiral.
There remains so much more for all of us to learn.
Asked if he was actually running patterns out in the street just a few hours before his Masters tee time, McIlroy stammered, “No. I wouldn’t ... it doesn’t ... I don’t even know what that means.”
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