MASTERS NOTES
AUGUSTA – Arnold Palmer, giving up 10 years to 63-year-old Jack Nicklaus, scored two shots better in the first round than the man who’s won more Masters green jackets (six) than anyone in tournament history.
Palmer shot 83 to Nicklaus’ 85. It was Nicklaus’ highest score in 159 rounds in the 43 Masters he’s played, and the second time he failed to break 80 here.
Nicklaus, who missed only four cuts in his 42 Masters entering this year, was visibly shaken by his poor first round, saying, “The course wasn’t much of a problem; I was. I got close to what I deserved.
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” Nicklaus went on. “And that’s what I should have done: Get out of the kitchen. I was terrible.”
In 2,235 PGA Tour rounds, Nicklaus’ 85 was his highest round ever. His previous high was an 83 at the 1981 British Open.
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The highest opening-round score by a player who went on to win the Masters came in 1982 when Craig Stadler shot 75, one better than Tiger Woods yesterday. So that’s another record Woods could break this weekend along with, if he were to win, that elusive third consecutive green jacket. . . . Woods, whose first-round 76 snapped a streak of 10 consecutive Masters rounds under par, went 21 holes yesterday before carding his first birdie. He then birdied Nos. 13, 14 and 16 on the front nine of his second round. His last round without a birdie came at the 1999 British Open. . . . Darren Clarke’s three-shot lead after the first round was the largest first-round lead at the Masters since 1982, when Nicklaus led Jack Renner and Fuzzy Zoeller by three strokes.
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Phil Mickelson, seeking his first major championship, stood in third place at 2-under through 11 holes of his second round. He’ll begin this morning on treacherous No. 12, on which he is 11-over-par lifetime.
He actually was irritated that he and his group were unable to play No. 12 last night, because the conditions were calm. But the group of Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and John Huston opted not to putt out after the horn sounded to suspend play.
