AUGUSTA -- Charley Hoffman stood atop a dream come true Thursday. The 34-year-old was about to tee off in his first Masters, a precipice that can wobble even the steeliest wills.
Hoffman stifled a yawn.
He thumped his first shot about 305 yards down the fairway and made par on his way to a 2-over first round.
"I felt good over it," Hoffman said. "I was more nervous on the first par-3 tee shot [Wednesday] than I was on the first tee shot [Thursday]."
On Thursday, both on the famed first tee and in their rounds, Masters rookies largely handled the moment. The 20 rookies, including amateurs, did better than the field on the first hole, averaging 4.05 on the par-4 hole (three bogeys), better than the full-field average of 4.22. More important, 12 scored even-par or better and another four were 1 or 2 over par. Gary Woodland is the low rookie at 3 under.
"It was great," said D.A. Points, who followed Hoffman in the next group with his own first-hole par. "I thought I'd be more nervous, and I wasn't."
It's not like they didn't have reason for their knees to buckle. Hoffman, wearing lime-green pants, a dark-green shirt, alligator-leather shoes and a python-leather belt, had been pursuing Augusta since turning professional in 2000, a journey that left him broke and sleeping on friends' sofas at various points.
"Obviously, I did anything it took to get out here," he said.
Kevin Streelman, 32, came to Augusta as a golfer at Duke 10 years ago to watch a Monday practice round and imagined being on the other side of the ropes. Just before teeing off, he got a hug at the first tee from his brother, Jimmy, a missionary in Latin America whom he has seen twice since the summer of 2009.
"To be here now is the ultimate dream come true," Streelman said.
On the tee, Streelman soaked in the moment before teeing off, but then narrowed his focus.
"I felt fine," he said. "I picked a good target and let it go."
Streelman also made par on the way to 3 over.
Points, who turned pro in 1999, had multiple trips to qualifying school and bounced around various tours. At the first tee, Points was shaking hands and gave his customary preround hug to his mother, Mary Joe.
"He just seemed so calm during the whole thing," she said.
His mother was not quite so.
"I was thinking, I've been waiting for this day for so long," said Mary Joe, who had applied unsuccessfully for Masters practice-round tickets for 15 years before giving up this past year, only to have her son earn an invitation by winning at Pebble Beach in February. "You never quite know. Is it really going to happen?"
Points, who makes little secret of his desire to win at Augusta, shot even par for the round.
With an early tee time Friday, he said, "I can go out and throw a 4, 5, 6, 7 under, something like that, get it to where these guys are leading."
Nothing to it.
