Henley overcomes some early hiccups for a solid first round at the Masters
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The start of Russell Henley’s seventh Masters was a nice one, with three pars and a birdie through four holes.
And then “nice” kind of went away for a bit, with two bogeys and a double bogey in the next five holes.
Henley, who turns 34 on Wednesday, rolled through the back nine until – almost on cue – a bogey on 18. That ended a streak of seven par-or-better holes and put him at 1 over and tied for 45th.
The top 50 players and ties make the cut. Last year, 52 players lasted through the weekend with a cut line of plus 4.
Henley will get some air time on Friday, thanks to another member of his group.
Veteran Fred Couples has missed four straight Masters cuts – he’s 23 over in his last two – but turned in a sizzling 1-under 71 first round, putting the 63-year-old – who has also been vocal and sharp in the PGA-LIV battle - among the top early storylines in his 38th Masters.
He finished in a tie for 26th.
Alex Noren put himself in major danger of missing the cut with a 6-over 78. The trio tees off at 11:12 a.m. on Friday. Times were moved up 30 minutes late Thursday.
Victor Hovland was 6 under through 12 when Henley’s group headed to the clubhouse around 1:35 p.m. Thursday. He’s sharing the lead with Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka
Henley’s first round started creeping off the rails a bit with a bogey on No. 9 when his tee shot veered to the right and on the edge of the fairway and pine straw. The next shot went into the crowd surrounding the green.
He salvaged only a bogey after all that, but the good vibes didn’t last long.
After his tee shot landed nicely in the middle of the fairway, Henley sent another shot off target, way right down a hill, again into pine straw with trees serving as a hindrance to his swing. He came up a foot short for bogey, and was 2 over through 10 after the double bogey.
Yet again, he went far right on a tee shot, but escaped digging a deeper hole on No. 11 by draining a 15-foot putt after a nice approach on his third shot for par.
Having regrouped, Henley finished the back nine with par or better – he’s still looking for his first eagle of the season – on seven of nine holes.
A birdie try on 15 of a couple dozen feet curled a little right and missed by less than two inches. But he converted a sweet tee shot on 16 with an 8-foot birdie to pull even.
Henley’s second shot on 17 left him just off the green, and he hit a 9-footer to save par. He wasn’t wounded by missing the fairway on 18, but was flat in missing a 7-footer for par.
Henley averaged a 71.6 in the first round of the five Masters he’s made the cut, which is every one since his debut in 2013.
He’ll work to improve on a second-round average of 73.2.