Weir grinds his way to opening day 71
Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:33:53
by Cam Cole
AUGUSTA, Ga. - It's never a bad thing to be under par after the first round of the Masters, so Canada's Mike Weir wasn't complaining.
His one-under-par 71 just didn't feel all that good next to the 67 shot by one of the fellows he played with Thursday, Lee Westwood.
And then there was the third man in the group, 16-year-old British Amateur champ Matteo Manassero, who matched Weir's 71.
Talk about rubbing it in.
"Lee's obviously playing great golf - you can tell he's on his game," said Weir, the 2003 Masters winner. "And then, Matteo, I can't imagine 16 years old, going around this golf course under par. When I was 16, I was probably playing Ontario juniors, shooting 75s on those courses. I would have shot 85 around here. He's impressive. And he told me he wants to turn pro. Sixteen years old, can you believe it?"
Weir made a dazzling par save out of the left greenside bunker after a poor approach on No. 1, and that kind of set the tone for his day.
He had to grind to score under par, birdied the third by nearly holing his approach, then gave it back on the hole that's been his Masters nemesis, the par-four 5th.
His one lucky bounce came at the par-five 13th, when his approach shot from out of the pine straw to the right of the fairway landed short of the green in Rae's Creek, struck a flat rock and kicked 50 or 60 yards straight back into the middle of the fairway.
He pitched to 10 feet and made the birdie.
"That really surprised me. I hit a really nice draw in there, thought it was going to be close for eagle - I was surprised where that ball landed, but it was a nice break there," Weir said.
He bogeyed the 14th but birdied the par-five 15th and got home from there in pars.
