Several Masters rookies have good debut

Jimmy Walker’s Masters Tour­na­ment debut could have gone south
after he hit a tree at the par-5 13th.
But the first-timer rallied from that bogey with four straight birdies to plant his name on the leaderboard after 18 holes.

“It could have (gone either way),” said Walker, who finished at 2-under. “But you can’t do that to yourself. It’s a long week.”

Walker, who has three wins on the PGA Tour this season, is part of what some consider the best Masters rookie class in history. The group acquitted itself well in Thursday’s opening round as Wal­ker, Jonas Blixt, Stephen Gal­lacher, Jordan Spieth and Kevin Stadler all finished under par.

Blixt was the early leader Thursday, getting to 4-under before ending at 2-under.

The Stadler name returned to the leaderboard this year, but it was son Kevin, not father Craig, the 1982 champion. Kevin Stad­ler, 34, shot 2-under in his first Masters round.

Spieth and Gallacher both finished 1-under. Spieth had three birdies and two bogeys to stand three shots off the lead. Though he said he won’t be watching the scoreboard, Spieth was pleased with his first-round score.

“My only two bogeys being 3-putts where my speed was just off on the first putt – I can take a lot from that,” Spieth said. “And that’s very positive going forward because, you know, you’re going to have some putts that make you scratch your head out here. And to only have a couple of them in my first round, it should only improve.”

Gallacher went 3-for-3 on sand saves. The Scot came up with one reason why first-time players played well and were sprinkled throughout the leaderboard.

“Maybe no bad memories,” Gallacher said jokingly.