AUGUSTA, Ga. – It was a blustery Thursday at Augusta National, making the Masters debuts of both Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes that much more difficult. Meanwhile, Mike Weir managed to have his experience shine through during an unpredictable opening day.
Weir fired a 4-over 76 — the same score he shot a year ago — but on a day when only 11 players were under par, he wasn’t as out of it as he has been in years past. He finished with seven-straight pars.
“I gave away a bunch of shots on the front nine. I was able to save some nice pars on the back side but I missed four or five short ones today. Given the way I played, 76 isn’t too bad,” he said. “The conditions kept you on your toes today.”
While Weir said he didn’t have any final words of wisdom for Hughes or Hadwin Wednesday night, the other two thirds of the Canadian contingent managed to plod their way around during a trying day.
Hadwin, who sniped his opening drive on Nos. 1 and 2 short and left into the pine straw, finished at 3-over 75.
“Welcome to Augusta,” he said with a tired smile after his round ended. “I haven’t been swinging my best this week yet, but I was starting to get a little better towards the end. I felt OK. I never felt comfortable over the ball, but I felt good with the putter. I just wasn’t making the five-footers I normally do. I left a couple out there on the greens.”
After Hadwin’s shaky start, he managed to recover nicely with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4. He chipped in from behind the fourth green using a hybrid, a shot he said he practiced earlier this week.
“I was trying to hit a lot of chip shots that bounced through the fringe, but I was never able to get it consistently going through. It would stick, or it would skip through so I started using that hybrid which rolls a little better than the putter,” explained Hadwin. “It’s definitely a shot that’s come in handy.”
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Hadwin had a crew of about 10 people following him around Thursday, including the whole of his wedding party – who were dressed in Team Canada shirts from Hudson’s Bay that had been customized with ‘Hadwin’ and ‘59’ emblazoned on the back in the style of the Toronto Blue Jays’ jersey numbers.
His mother Brenda was also there, along with new wife Jessica – who tells Sportsnet.ca that her Masters and PGA Tour credentials were the first things that said ‘Jessica Hadwin’ on them – while his father Gerry remains at home in Abbotsford, B.C.
“It was extremely stressful,” said Brenda Hadwin with a big laugh of following her son has he made his Masters debut. “My heart was going up and down and up and down. It was a little better after he made the birdie on No. 4. It calmed us down.”
Hughes, too, had a group of Canucks in tow during his opening round, including many from his home club of Dundas Valley near Hamilton, his wife Jenna, and best friend Keith Dynes – who caddied for Hughes for the three holes of the Par-3 Contest Wednesday before it was rained out.
“It’s insane. Just seeing him here is amazing,” said Dynes, who works at Ping and first met Hughes when they were 11. “I always knew he would be at this level. I knew since we were 12. I got addicted to golf following Mac, and he was playing so good. I was more interested in the chicken fingers after the round.”
Hughes flashed a thumbs up to his crowd after striping his opening tee-shot down the centre of the first fairway, but unfortunately the rest of his round wasn’t as steady, finishing at 7-over 79 during the much tougher afternoon wave.
The wind picked up by the time Weir and Hadwin finished but Hughes was just starting out.
“Tough. It was just a huge grind. The wind was just not consistent,” said Hughes. “It was just really hard pulling a club and getting comfortable. You’re over four-foot putts that normally are straight and you’ve got the wind blowing 30 miles per hour off the right, the putt is probably a couple inches outside right. It’s a hard adjustment to make, because if the wind stops blowing, you miss the putt.
“It was just a very hard day. Hard for everybody, but especially so for a guy that’s never seen this course in that kind of wind.”
Hughes will go off early tomorrow and hopes to take advantage of somewhat calmer conditions in order to get back in the mix and have a chance to make the cut. He points to Ernie Els, who shot 79 (the same score as Hughes) in 2003 and ended up tied for sixth, as inspiration.
“To be honest, I feel OK. It’s just I got into some of those silly crosswinds and didn’t hit great shots. It’s not technique or anything, it just depends on if you get a gust. It was a commitment issue more than anything,” he said. “More than anything it’s just a refresh of the mindset. I fought to the finish to shoot something respectable.”
Hughes tees off Friday at 9:39 a.m. ET, while Weir goes at 11:29 a.m. and Hadwin at 12:24 p.m.