AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau entered the first round of the Masters on Thursday with excellent form and full confidence, ready to meet expectations as two of this week's most prominent favorites. Eighteen holes later, they are now the chasers – and they are well behind. First, they must chase the cut line just to reach the weekend. Should they succeed, they still have a lot of work ahead to catch the leaders, given the significant gap that now exists.
It was a difficult opening day for the two top LIV Golf players this season. DeChambeau carded a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 11th hole and finished his round with a 4-over 76, while Rahm recorded his first round without a single birdie in 37 Masters rounds, posting his highest individual score at Augusta National with a 6-over 78.
Both players will start Friday's second round outside the top 50 and ties, which make the Masters cut. Rahm, the 2023 champion, has never missed a cut in nine previous starts at Augusta National. He finished the first round in a tie for 73rd place – his worst position after a Masters round. He is 11 shots behind co-leaders Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy.
"It's going to be a much bigger battle now," said the captain of Legion XIII, "but I need to go out tomorrow and most likely post a round in the 60s to have a chance at the cut and thus the weekend."
DeChambeau is in a tie for 56th place, his worst first-round position in his 10 Masters starts, and is 11 shots back. The Crushers GC player, winner of the last two LIV Golf tournaments (Singapore and South Africa), seemed somewhat shocked by Thursday's events. "Anyone can experience strange things happening, and today I simply didn't have control of my irons, which is odd," he said. "It felt good leading up to this."
DeChambeau recovered from a bogey on the par-5 2nd hole with a birdie on the short 3rd hole, then played seven consecutive pars before stepping onto the tee at the par-4 11th. His approach shot from the fairway landed in the right bunker. That's where the real misfortune struck, as it took him three shots to reach the green. His explanation after the round? "The bunker was softer than I expected," he said.
In last year's final round of the Masters, DeChambeau's hopes faded with a double-bogey on the 11th when he found the creek on the left side. When asked if he was conscious of not going left again, he replied: "The ball flew 12 yards (approx. 11 meters) further than I wanted. I hit a good shot." He then finished his round with a bogey-birdie-bogey stretch, giving him much to ponder overnight. "I'm just going to take what
