There hasn't been a first round like it in years.
Landing areas on the greens the size of paper plates. Pin placements in their toughest positions in decades.Opening day at the Masters wasn't the scoring derby the players have been accustomed to seeing the last few years. Only Larry Mize seemed oblivious to it all, shooting a 4-under 68 for a 1-stroke lead at sunswept Augusta National Golf Club.
Three rounds in the 60s. A scoring average of 74.67 on a par-72 course that seemed like a minefield for so many players.
Some survived. South African Fulton Allem and Tom Kite shot 69s. Tom Watson was 4 under for a while but triple bogeyed the 15th and finished at 2-under 70. That put him in a six-way tie with Tom Lehman, Raymond Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, Vijay Singh and Greg Norman.
Only 16 players out of the 86 who started shot under par. In 1992, there were 35.
"It demanded some intense concentration and a lot of trusting," Kite said. "There were a lot of disasters out there."
The biggest headache was felt at the 500-yard 15th hole. Nolan Henke made a 10 on it and felt lucky. Two others, Payne Stewart and Constantino Rocca of Italy, stumbled away with 9s. There were also two 8s and five 7s.
Last year, the hole, nicknamed "Firethorn," was the easiest one on the course. On Thursday, it was a thorn of another nature. Its scoring average was 5.176, making it the seventh toughest hole on the course.
Usually, the players arrive at the 15th with their only concern being whether or not to go for the green in 2. But when they saw the first-round pin placement - just four paces off the left front edge of the green, perilously close to the water- that was too dangerous a thought for most players.
Not for Mize, though. He went for it with a 4-wood and the ball landed 1-yard short of the green and trickled into the water. Still, he wasn't flustered. After his penalty drop, he chipped up - "the toughest third shot in golf," he said - and walked away with a bogey.
Watson took a triple bogey on the 15th. But that wasn't the only pin he ranked as being in the toughest position ever.
"Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18," Watson said. "I've never seen that pin at No. 4. I was surprised they used as many tough pin placements as they did today."
The fourth hole was ranked as the most difficult of the day - only three players birdied it. The pin at that hole also was placed four paces from the left front. A tough placement, according to Floyd, on a green that is situated between large bunker.
Still, he witnessed what he called the "most fabulous par of my life" when he saw playing partner Ballesteros, 20 yards from the pin, chip over the right bunker and onto the green.
The ball landed 4 feet from the hole and he made his par save.
Asked how he made the shot, Ballesteros replied, "Just buy my video, and you'll find out how to do it."