Texas Longhorns’ Scottie Scheffler Cards 66 In Round 1 Of Masters, Jordan Spieth Struggles

The 88th Masters tee’d off on Thursday after a 2.5 hour weather delay. The delay didn’t faze former Texas Longhorns golfer Scottie Scheffler – the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, a title he has held since March 2022, when he was just 25. Scheffler was untouchable on Thursday, having full control of his game and mastery over Augusta National.

Although standing in second place on the leaderboard at 6-under, Scheffler arguably had the best round of the day. He and the rest of the field trail Bryson DeChambeau, who carded a 7-under 66 at the legendary par 72 track.

Thursday marks his 14th round of 66 or better for the season out of 32 total played – and his first bogey-free round ever at the Masters. It was well-earned, coming in gusty conditions that caused more guessing than strategy among the players attempting to compensate for the wind.

DeChambeau’s 65 came earlier in the day before weather was a factor. As with everything in sports, Scheffler’s 66 didn’t come without luck. On the 545 yard, par 5 13th hole, his approach shot was short – held down by the wind, and miraculously stayed dry, teetering on the bank of the creek that runs in front of the green. Scheffler was able to chip to within about four feet for an easy birdie.

“I felt extremely fortunate that the ball stayed dry,” he said. “Right at the top of my swing, I heard somebody else make contact with the ball, and [it] kind of tricked me a little bit, and I lost out to the right. That stuff happens in the game of golf. Things happen. You’ve got to be more focused than that.”

Fellow Texan and Longhorn Jordan Spieth had a less-than-stellar day dealing with the weather. The 2015 Masters champion finished 11 holes at 2-over on the day before play was suspended for darkness. Spieth is tied for 54th place in the tournament. Scheffler will tee off on Friday at 1:48 p.m. ET, while Spieth has a Round 2 tee time of 10:42 am and must finish his first round.