AUGUSTA — The first round of the Masters is in the books, and it’s hard to envision a more perfect day to play a round of golf or, for the world’s best players, to score low. It was warm, bright and virtually free of any wind that could even be considered a gust. It was gettable. And man did the players go get it. Here are some key numbers and stats from the opening round.
191
Fred Couples, making his 40th Masters start, had himself a day at Augusta National. After chipping in on the first hole from 48 yards for a birdie, Couples topped that feat making eagle on the 14th from 191 yards out to move to 1-under par. Couples needed a big finish after making bogeys on 11 and 13. The 1992 Masters champion, who made history at Augusta National when he became the oldest to ever make the cut at 63 years, six months, five days of age last year, finished at 1-under 71.
90
Score for Nick Dunlap, five off the worst score in Masters history (Charlie Kunkel shot 95 in 1956). He made seven bogeys, four double bogeys and a triple bogey with no birdies.
73, 76
Scores for Denmark’s Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard, the first twins to play in the Masters. Rasmus had a steady day with two bogeys, one birdie and the rest pars, while Nicolai had a wild round with five birdies and an eagle—but also five bogeys and three double bogeys.
65
Justin Rose was on fire in the first round, shooting a 7-under 65. Rose made the turn after a blazing 5-under 31, making birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. He finished up his last nine holes with birdies on 10, 15 and 16, with his only blemish a bogey on 18. Rose, making his 20th Masters start, has top-25 finishes in 11 of the past 14 years at Augusta National.
33
First-nine score for Scottie Scheffler, tying the best by a defending Masters champion in the last 30 years. That’s been done four other times including by Scheffler two years ago, according to stats guru Justin Ray.
21
- Number of rounds it took for two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler to make birdie or better on every hole at Augusta National after his 62-foot birdie on the fourth hole during Thursday’s opening round.
- First-time players in the field this week.
10-11-12
Aaron Rai must have forgotten to say his prayers Wednesday night. Rai, who was 4 under through 10 holes, bogeyed the Nos. 11-13 holes, the famed Amen Corner. He rebounded to birdie the par-5 15th, bogeyed the 16th and added birdie on 17 to finish at 2-under 70.
9
Chris Kirk’s score on the par-5 13th after hitting two balls into Rae’s Creek and three-putting. He made the turn at 2 under but ended up shooting 3-over 75.
7
Patton Kizzire shot a 7-over 79 in the first round. Why is his score significant? During the opening round of the Valspar Championship on March 20, Kizzire kicked his putter out of anger. On the par-3 15th (his sixth hole of the day), the 39-year-old lagged a 40-footer to around 5 feet, but missed the par putt. That’s when Kizzire punted the putter, which went quite a long way. There were no reports of him punting his putter after Thursday’s round.
5
Times Rose has led or co-led after the first round of the Masters, a record. Rose and six-time champion Jack Nicklaus had been tied with four first-round leads.
2
- The number of times McIlroy and Scheffler have both been in the top 10 of a major championship after the first round before Thursday. The only other times it has occurred was at the 2022 Open Championship and the ’23 U.S. Open.
- Arms triumphantly raised into the air by Nicklaus after he striped his ceremonial tee shot down the middle. Tom Watson and Gary Player also hit the fairway with their respective drives, with Player punctuating his with a high kick. Perfect start to a perfect day at Augusta.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 Masters Day 1 By the Numbers: Fred Couples Defies Age.
