Haas leads balanced Masters leaderboard after opening-round 68

AUGUSTA — In many years, there is a distinct pattern to which players jump out to the early lead at the Masters.

Sometimes it’s the early group that has an advantage due to early weather and course conditions, while other years the boost goes to the later tee times.

But Thursday’s opening round of the 2014 Masters proved to be much more balanced, with golfers from throughout the tee times dotting the leaderboard, led by Bill Haas, who fired a 4-under par 68 off one of the middle tee times in the afternoon to grab the lead by the day’s end.

The 31-year-old Haas overcame a bogey on the first hole and bogeyed just one more hole on the day, while posting six birdies to take a one-shot lead over defending champion Adam Scott, 2012 champion Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.

“Unfortunately (I) got off to a bad start with a bogey at 1,” Haas said. “But (I) hit a nice par putt that almost went in, and for some reason, that kind of settled me down a little bit with the putter and made about a 15-footer down the hill at 2.

“The birdie at 4 is almost like an eagle. That hole is so difficult. Then I fatted up an iron shot at 5 just short of the green and pitched it by about 12 feet, and I made for par. That stretch of holes there, to come out of there 1-under and I easily could’ve been 1-over, the putter kind of saved me and settled me down. The rest of the day, I felt like I played pretty solid.”

Among the early starters near the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day were Kevin Stadler and Jonas Blixt, both of whom were among a group of six players tied for fifth just two shots back at 2-under 70.

For Stadler, it was a welcome start in his first Masters appearance, and the 34-year-old son of 1982 champion Craig Stadler said there weren’t many nerves at the start.

“Not really. I was actually pretty good to go after the first hole,” Stadler said. “It was pretty cool standing there watching the tournament on TV for 30 years and to be standing there on the first tee getting ready to play. It was a pretty cool experience.

“It was perfect (Thursday). … I assume it’s just going to get harder and harder and harder, because I thought (Thursday) was ideal. The greens were just holding just enough and very quick. They had a few inches of rain a few days ago, and it’s kind of scary. So, it’s going to get tough over the weekend.”

Two of the later starters, former Georgia standout Watson and Oosthuizen, were among a group of three one shot behind Haas at 3-under, but it was defending champion Scott who may have had the most eventful day among the leaders.

After cruising along with three birdies in a five-hold span to move into a tie for the lead at 4-under heading into Amen Corner, disaster nearly struck for the Australian when he hit his tee shot on the par-3 12th hole into Rae’s Creek, eventually resulting in a double bogey that moved him back to 2-under.

But after a par 5 on the 13th, Scott called on his experience of winning last year to rebound with a birdie on the par-4 14th hole to move back to within a shot of the lead, and steadied himself over his final four holes to stay there.

“I hit one poor shot on 12, which obviously cost me a couple of shots,” Scott said. “But I was very pleased to get off to a good start, and there’s not doubt winning the Masters last year had me a little more comfortable on the first tee than I’ve ever been in the past because I didn’t have the legs shaking or and nerves jangling for six or seven holes like usual. So, that was enjoyable for me (Thursday).”

In all 19 players broke par to stand just three shots off the pace, with another seven players four shots back at even par.

Meanwhile, several players with Georgia ties — including Duluth resident Stewart Cink and fellow former Georgia Tech standouts Matt Kuchar and Roberto Castro, plus former University of Georgia stars Harris English and Russell Henley — were among a group of 13 players five shots back at 1-over par.