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Roc-solid start
Great first-round start for Mediate
Posted: Thursday April 06, 2000 10:44 AM
AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) -- Rocco Mediate jumped off to a fast
start in the 2000 Masters Thursday, going three under par in the
first three holes with a birdie and an eagle.
The 37-year-old Mediate, playing in his fourth Masters,
birdied the 575-yard second hole and then holed out his second
shot on the 350-yard third to lead by three strokes with only 20
players on the course.
Craig Parry of Australia and American Scott Gump were both
level par though four holes while Vijay Singh of Fiji, Glen Day
and Skip Kendall were also even par after the first hole.
Conditions were perfect for the start of the year's first
major championship, with bright sunshine and gentle breezes
blowing through Augusta's towering pine trees.
The day would provide the first competitive test of the bold
changes made to Augusta National Golf Club's venerable course,
the only permanent home for any of golf's four major
championships.
After introducing rough to the Alister Mackenzie masterpiece
last year, the elite club's elders decided this year to grow
even more long grass, significantly narrowing the fairways on
several holes.
While former champions like Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd,
among others, said they did not think the new, tighter fairways
were necessary, Masters officials felt they had to protect their
course from the recent advances in equipment that have players
hitting the ball longer and straighter.
"These fellows hit the ball a long way. We felt we could no
longer let them swing from the heels," Hootie Johnson, chairman
of the club and the tournament, said in explaining the course
changes. "We wanted to make driving accuracy more important."
Club officials will not admit it, but most players and fans
believe the changes were instituted in response to Tiger Woods's
runaway victory in the 1997 tournament, when he won by a record
12 strokes with a record 18-under-par total of 270.
As usual the tournament got underway with honorary starters
Byron Nelson and Sam Snead hitting the first balls with the sun
barely peeking above the white clubhouse.
Missing from the traditional ceremonial start was the late
Gene Sarazen, who died last May at age 97. Sarazen helped put
the fledgling tournament on the sporting map when he won the
second Masters in 1935 with the help of his famed double-eagle
on the 15th hole.
Nelson, 88, winner of the 1937 and 1942 Masters, hit his tee
shot to the left, while Snead, 87, winner of the '49 and '52
tournaments, launched a high drive to the right to pave the way
for the 95 players in the field, one of the largest ever.
Woods, the hottest player in golf, was teeing off at 10:38
a.m. along with Australian amateur sensation Aaron Baddeley and
Stewart Cink.
Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain was going
off 12:39 p.m. with Mike Weir of Canada and David Gossett, the
U.S. Amateur champion.
A special threesome of Nicklaus, a six-time winner,
four-time champion Arnold Palmer and three-time titlist Gary
Player was setting out later in the afternoon.
A warm day was in the forecast, though no one could predict
the result the changes to the course would have on the
competition.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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