Charley Hoffman on Masters first-round leaderboard again

Charley Hoffman is no stranger to being on the leaderboard Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.

The problem has been staying there.

“I'm happy,” Hoffman said after opening with 69. “I did everything pretty good. As I say, you want to put yourself in position after the first round. You can't win the tournament, I've proven that, after the first round and I just want to give myself a chance on Saturday and Sunday like I have in the past. I promise you I'll perform a little better this time around.”

Last year, the 41-year-old opened with 65 and led the Masters Tournament by four shots. He finished tied for 22nd after shooting a final-round 78.

When asked how he plans to translate his Thursday success into the rest of the week, Hoffman laughed, then added, “You know what, I wish I knew the answer to that or I would have done it a few years back.”

Hoffman admitted that he’s forced too many shots on the weekend and “it backfired fast.”

“You can't force anything on this golf course,” he said.

“Unfortunately, on Sundays it seems like I haven't been able to put myself into position to attack and I try to force it and in turn you shoot mid-70s. I think I learned from my mistakes and that's all I can ask for. I hope I get the opportunity again.”

HAPPY HADWIN: After eight consecutive pars to open his round, Adam Hadwin found his range.

The Canadian birdied three of his next four holes and got it to 4 under before a tough-luck three-putt on the 18th hole gave him 69 on the day and in a seven-way tie for fourth place. 

He made his move from a variety of spots — nearly holing out from the rough on No. 9, making birdie from the fairway on No. 10, then putting his tee shot 12 feet from the hole on No. 12.

"I think it just suits my eye," Hadwin said of Augusta National. "I love working the ball both ways, it's something that I work on and practice on the range a lot and so it really doesn't matter the hole, I feel like I can hit the shot that's required."

PHOTOS: Pictures from the First Round at Augusta National

WISH GRANTED? On his 42nd birthday, Henrik Stenson put himself in position for a rare present.

The No. 14 player in the world shot one of his best rounds ever at Augusta National, carding 69 despite an 18th-hole bogey. It leaves him three shots off the lead and as close to a green jacket as he's ever been in his career. His best finish here is a tie for 14th in 2014.

The Swedish star and 2016 Open Championship winner went out in 34 and had birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 15 on the back nine. He's in Friday's penultimate grouping, teeing off at 1:49 p.m.

VAMOS, RAFA: Rafael Cabrera-Bello had only broken par once in six career rounds at the Masters before 2018, and started 3-over par through five holes of Thursday's opening round. Then, a rare birdie on No. 7 — the day's toughest hole — jump-started a charge up the leaderboard.

After his par on No. 18 in the final pairing of the day, the Spaniard signed for a 3-under-par 69 that included a 32 on the back nine.

The 33-year-old used his length for three birdies on the par-5 holes, but also used the flat stick to keep things going, draining a 28-foot birdie on No. 16.

WIESBERGER STARTS STRONG: Bernd Wiesberger didn’t expect to see his name so high on the leaderboard as he finished his first round Thursday, but the 32-year-old was pleased with his early performance.

The Austrian shot 2-under-par 70 in the opening round of the Masters, matching his career best for a single round at Augusta National. He shot 70 twice en route to his best finish in a tie for 22nd in 2015.

“Looking at the leaderboard, I didn't expect that 2-under was going to be that high up,” Wiesberger said. “Definitely a couple opportunities out there, but then again you need to be really careful with some of the pins.”

Wiesberger birdied holes 3, 10, 13 and 15 while carding bogeys on 5 and 8. The highlights were the birdie on tough No. 10 when he hit a 194-yard approach to three feet and a 36-foot, downhill birdie putt on No. 15.

“Making the turn, I thought I had a good idea of what I wanted to do and hit good shots, and I was happy with a couple birdies coming in,” he said.

THOMAS STRUGGLES: Justin Thomas breezed through Amen Corner on Thursday before his round slipped away later on the back nine Thursday.

Pulled tee shots on No. 13 and No. 16 cost the No. 2-ranked player in the world three shots in a disappointing 2-over 74 at Augusta National.

Despite calm conditions, the field remained bunched throughout the opening round due to difficult hole locations. Thomas appeared to have momentum after birdies at 10 and 12 to improve to 1-under with two reachable par-5s ahead.

But he found Rae’s Creek off the tee on 13, was forced to lay up on his third shot, wedged on and two-putted for bogey.

Thomas failed to convert a realistic birdie putt at 14. Yanking his drive left on 15 forced him to lay up short of the water on his second shot. He hit a wedge 15 feet behind the hole then endured a lengthy delay as defending champion Sergio Garcia made history, hitting four consecutive wedge shots into the water hazard - and five total on the hole - before one-putting to make 13.

Thomas’ birdie try stopped short. He pulled his iron left into the water on 16, leading to a double-bogey.

Earlier in the week, Thomas emphasized the importance of avoiding mental mistakes around the demanding Augusta National layout.

“It’s a great, great golf course. It just requires a strong mental week,” he said. “You need to be mentally sharp. You need to not make any stupid mistakes out there. If you get in trouble, make sure you get out and take advantage of the opportunities that you have.”

BEER SHOT: Jason Finch figures he’s been to about 15 Masters, but what happened Thursday was a first for the Anderson, S.C., resident.

Jason Day’s second shot on the first hole sailed right, hit a tree, bounced down off Finch’s shoulder and into his beer. The crowd gave a cheer and a laugh, and Finch has a story for the rest of his life.

“I wasn’t watching the shot, I was looking up at the green,” Finch said. “All of a sudden I hear (Day’s playing partner) Bubba Watson yelling ‘fore right.’ ”

Having a laugh as well, Day gave an Australian-twanged, “Sorry, mate,” and asked Finch to take the ball out of the cup.

“I don’t want to get my germs in your beer,” Day told Finch.

Finch instead chugged the rest of the beer and dumped the ball in Day’s hand, to which Day told Finch, “Thanks, mate.”

“I chugged it, I thought that was pretty cool,” Finch said. “It tasted the same."

Day was not penalized for a drop, though he proceeded to two-putt for bogey on the hole.