Lucas Glover posts his best first-round score at the Masters. It was no cakewalk
Gary Player on Thursday morning talked about the necessity to overcome adversity to succeed in championship golf. Lucas Glover provided a perfect illustration of that principle Thursday afternoon.
Player, who won nine major titles in his hall-of-fame career, met with the media after participating in the honorary starter ceremonies for the 88th Masters and noted, “To win big tournaments, you have to love adversity because it’s part of the game.”
Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, overcame some ill fortune Thursday created by the gusting wind that whipped across the Augusta National Golf Club course, at time blowing sand from the bunkers, and posted a 1-under-par 71.
“I can assure you the 71 felt a lot lower on a day like this,” he said. “If you’re not 10 percent dialed in and making everything and kind of playing unconscious, it’s survival.”
Glover, a Greenville native and an All-American at Clemson, posted four birdies and three bogeys Thursday. One of the dropped shots came on the par-5 13th — which played the second easiest of the day.
His second shot, an iron from the first cut off a side-hill lie, came up short in the creek guarding the green. But the ball plugged rather than rolling into the water.
He thought, “Good break.”
But ...
“What looked like a good break, the ball plugged in the bank ... I thought I could get it out,” he said. “Like a plugged lie in bunker, you’ve got to go at it (hard).”
He did — and the ball flew the green and disappeared into the azaleas.
“I went at it and the ball came out really good — 40 yards over the green and a lost ball,” Glover said.
After taking a penalty stroke, he chipped from the creek bank into one-putt range and made bogey.
“All in all, a good 6,” he said.
Now at 1-over par, he birdied the tough 14th and followed with another at the par-5 15th. He parred the final three holes.
“I had a good number on 14 for a tight pin,” Glover said. “You don’t have much room to land it up there. ... A good number for a full pitching wedge. You can go right at it when you have that.
“I knocked it on in two on 15 and made some nice solid parts coming in. I had the right reads on 17 and 18 (for birdie), but I just didn’t hit them hard enough. It’s hard to with the wind and slopes behind the holes and stuff. It was tough (conditions).”
Glover, 44, resurrected his career by turning to a long putter last summer. He won twice, qualified for the PGA Tour playoffs and earned a spot in signature events that offer $20 million purses. He is No. 35 in the World Golf Rankings.
“The first week I used it last year, I took it to Muirfield Village for the Memorial,” he said. “My mindset there was, we’re going to throw it right into the fire because those greens have some of the very same characteristics there (at Augusta) as far as slope and pace.
“I did well, so that told me I could do it. ... I was actually really looking forward to putting (at Augusta) with it because of the pace.”
The result: his best first-round score in his 10 Masters appearances and a spot in the top 20.
“The wind’s hard to figure, especially down at Amen Corner,” Glover said. “You’re at the mercy of it on some holes, to be fair. It was a struggle. If you weren’t completely dialed in, it was a struggle.
“Overall, of those days, but I survived. I’m happy to be under par.”
Who’s winning the Masters?
Play was suspended at 7:51 p.m. Thursday due to darkness. The first round will resume on Friday at 7:50 a.m. The second round will begin at 8 a.m.
1 — Bryson DeChambeau (-7) 65
2 — Scottie Scheffler (-6) 66
3 — Nicolai Hojgaard (-5) thru 15
T4 — Danny Willett (-4) 68
T4 — Max Homa (-4) thru 13 -4
T6 — Ryan Fox (-3) 69
T6 — Cameron Davis (-3) 69
T6 — Tyrrell Hatton (-3) thru 14