Campbell Rolls Over Augusta
Chad Campbell took advantage of soft greens and a sunny warm day to fire at the pins on his way to a seven-under 65 and a one-stroke lead
Campbell opened his round with five straight birdies and was nine under until bogeys on 17 and 18.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Chad Campbell led an assault on the scoreboard, shooting a 7-under-par 65 to take the top spot after the opening round of the Masters.
The conditions were ideal Thursday: warm and sunny, a slight breeze, soft greens and inviting pin positions. Nineteen players shot in the 60s and 38 players in the 96-man field broke par.
Campbell birdied the first five holes and had another streak of four in a row, putting himself in position to challenge the tournament record, 63. But he bogeyed the final two holes.
Still, Campbell holds a one-stroke lead over Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan after day one. Tiger Woods struggled with his putter but still managed 70 in his first major since last year's U.S. Open.
There aren't many days like this at Augusta National: Sunny and warm, with barely a breeze. Greens nice and soft. Pins stuck in some pretty inviting spots.
Campbell began the round with five straight birdies, the best start in Masters history, and ripped off four in a row on the back side to get his score to 9 under. That sent him to the final two holes needing one more birdie to break the tournament record -- a 63 by Nick Price in 1986 and equaled by Greg Norman a decade later.
The magic number was definitely on his mind -- perhaps a little too much. Campbell failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at No. 17, ending any hopes of breaking the mark, and a three-putt from 50 feet at the 18th cost him another stroke.
"I'm definitely happy with the round I played," he said, "but I'm a little upset with the way I finished."
He had a one-shot lead over Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan, with plenty of others lurking in the 60s. And what about Tiger Woods? The world's No. 1 player teed off in one of the latest groups and plodded through the front nine with an even-par 36.
But Woods began to make his move after the turn, pushing his score to 3 under with three straight birdies at 13 and 14.
Furyk strung together four straight birdies on the back for a score that would have been good enough for at least a share of the opening-round lead in all but one of the last 12 years. On this day, it was just an impressive score with plenty of company.
"It was a day for scoring," said Padraig Harrington, who began his quest to win a third straight major with a 69. "(Club officials) can get the scoring whichever way they want. Today was obviously one of the most generous days ever around Augusta. You've got to feel it's going to get a little bit tougher as we go on the next three days."
At 67 were Japanese star Shingo Katayama, who had never broken 70 in seven previous appearances, and 1987 champion Larry Mize, who's made the Masters cut only once in the last eight years.
"I did not imagine a 67," said Mize, who turned in his best score at Augusta since 2000.
Another member of the old-timer's club was right in the mix, too. Greg Norman shot 70 in his first Masters appearance since 2002, again stirring hopes that he might finally win that elusive green jacket at age 54. The Shark has been a runner-up three times.
Leading up to the tournament, many golfers complained that changes made in recent years to toughen and lengthen the course have sucked all the drama out of it -- especially in the final round. Foul weather the last two years made it even harder to go low, which meant the winner was the one making the fewest mistakes rather than the biggest charge.
"It was a nice, sunny day with little wind," Harrington said. "Do they have control over that, too?"
Not everyone went low. Phil Mickelson struggled with an errant driver and could only manage a 73. Sergio Garcia also shot 73. Ernie Els, a perennial Masters contender, limped home with a 75 -- already 10 strokes off the lead.
