Amateurs play with countrymen in opening round

A lot of thought went into the groupings for the amateurs playing in their first Masters Tournament on Thursday.

Corey Conners, a Canadian, played with 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir of Ontario. Australian Anthony Murdaca was paired with 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott, and Sco­tland’s Bradley Neil was in a grouping with Sandy Lyle, who won a green jacket in 1988.

“It was good watching somebody who’s played this course so many times, a former winner,” said Neil, who finished with 6-over-par 78. “We had a nice chat on the fairway about what I didn’t do right today. He knows as well as I do there’s a definite score out there, especially at the time we go out there (8:18 a.m. Friday). Hopefully, I can find (my game) overnight and hole a few more putts.”

The 19-year-old mentioned another adviser, his friend Rory McIlroy.

“Rory told me this week not to question or put into doubt what I’m doing,” Neil said. “This course will do that to you, no matter whether you’re under par or over par. That’s what it was doing to me. I couldn’t believe some of the distances I was hitting with irons. I couldn’t believe how I kept missing fairways.”

Neil, who secured a Masters invitation by winning the British Amateur, wasn’t the only amateur to struggle in his debut. Murdaca also carded 78, Conners shot 80 and South Korea’s Gunn Yang hit 85. The low score of the seven amateurs belonged to San Diego’s Byron Meth, 22, who made four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey en route to 74.

“I was hoping for a better start,” said Mur­daca, the 2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion. “I’m really excited. Being here is amazing, it’s a thrill. I’m just embracing the experience.”

Scott Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur winner, tried to put a number on his excitement level.

“On a scale from 1 to 10, it’s 3,000,” he said after shooting 76, matching amateur Matias Dominguez of Chile. “It’s unbelievable. This is one of those things in life that you can never duplicate.”

Harvey, 36, also made some connections this week with sports legends. His late father, Bill Harvey, was an elite amateur and longtime friend of Ben Crenshaw, a two-time Masters champion who had a nice conversation with him. Harvey, from Greensboro, N.C., also is friends with NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, who made a visit to Augusta.

“I had a conversation with him about how he dealt with pressure,” Harvey said. “My phone’s getting text messages every 15 seconds and Twitter is just going nuts. I asked him how he dealt with that and how he dealt with pressure and mindset stuff. He gave me some insight and it’s really good.”