Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991 TAG: 9104120070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: AUGUSTA, GA. LENGTH: Medium
It was a 4-under-par 68 that said, clear as could be: "Not yet Nick. I'm not yet quite ready to relinquish the mastery of the Masters."
Nicklaus, 51, a six-time winner and four-time runner-up in golf's annual rite of spring, led a list of old folks who rose to challenge Faldo's march to Masters history on Thursday.
Nicklaus was joined by Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, Japan's Jumbo Ozaki and U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin as potential roadblocks on Faldo's path to an unprecedented third consecutive Masters title.
Wadkins, 41, Mark McCumber and Jim Gallagher are tied for the first-round lead with 5-under-par 67s.
Watson, 41, and Ozaki, 44, are with Nicklaus, Fred Couples and Jose Maria Olazabal at 68 after one trip around an unusually forgiving Augusta National Golf Club course that, Nicklaus said, presented "awfully good scoring conditions."
It was not particularly forgiving to Faldo, however.
The 6-foot-3 Englishman, winner of the last two Masters and the current British Open champion, could do no better than match par.
Generally considered the outstanding player in golf today, Faldo is attempting to become the first man to win three consecutive Masters.
"I played good and didn't make the most of it," Faldo said over his shoulder as he hurried through and out of the clubhouse.
He went to 2-under with a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 13th, but he flubbed a chip and bogeyed 14, then drifted back to par after he missed the 18th green.
Phil Mickelson, the 20-year-old amateur who won the Tucson Open this season, is in a large group at 69 and became the first left-hander to ever break 70 in the Masters.
Mickelson, a two-time NCAA champion from Arizona State and the current U.S. Amateur champion, played in a twosome with Faldo.
"He's just setting himself up," Mickelson said. "He's not concerned with one round. He's thinking of the whole tournament."
Irwin, 45, shot a 70, two better than Faldo and far in front of some other foreign favorites.
Seve Ballesteros of Spain, a two-time Masters winner, shot a 75. Former Masters winner Sandy Lyle of Scotland three-putted his way to a 77.
And Greg Norman, the Australian who said he is troubled by burnout, went to an unlikely 78, a number that surprised his good friend Nicklaus.
Nicklaus said he told his wife: "I have a feeling that if I don't win this tournament Greg will. I'm really surprised he didn't play better."
Nicklaus also was a little surprised by his own play.
"I didn't hit a lot of good shots early on, but the ball just kept going in the hole," he said.
After pulling his drive into an adjacent fairway off the first tee, he lofted an iron over the pine trees to within 5 feet and made the birdie putt. He scored from shorter range on the next, then chipped in from about 80 feet on the fourth.
"Some of it is a carry-over from last week," he said.
Nicklaus came into his 33rd Masters fresh from a victory on the Senior Tour last week.
Wadkins, the first man off the tee, one-putted 11 times, romped around the course in 3 hours, 25 minutes and compiled his best score ever in this tournament.
It is one stroke better than the closing 68 he had a year ago and prompted Wadkins to comment:
"If I can keep on improving a shot a day, I won't have any trouble."
Watson, who has two Masters championships to go with his five British Open titles, used a zebra putter for only the third or fourth time in his career in an attempt to cure the putting miseries that have plagued his try for a comeback from a four-season non-winning streak.
And the comeback, he said, is nearly complete.
"It's like putting together a piece of furniture," Watson said. "All the pieces are there, but the glue's not quite dry yet. It's not solid. It just needs a little more time. . . .
"I feel like I'm just getting back in that winning frame of mind."
Keywords:
GOLF
by CNB