Paul Casey, the 43-year-old Englishman is leading the Masters after the first day of play, shooting a 7-under 65 as the first round was not completed due to early storms in Augusta, Georgia.
In 2019, Casey shot 86 and 82 to badly miss the cut. But he turned things around in his return to the Masters, which was delayed for seven months by the coronavirus pandemic.
Play was put off a little longer Thursday as the event was in a weather delay for about three hours. The course was evacuated because of lightning in the area at 7:35 a.m. before resuming shortly before 10:30 a.m.
Starting on the back side, Casey made five birdies and rolled in an eagle at the par-5 second hole to match his lowest score ever at the Masters. He headed into the clubhouse with a two-shot lead over Webb Simpson and Xander Schauffele. Also two back was Justin Thomas, who was among the afternoon wave of golfers who did not finish their rounds.
The first round will be completed early Friday morning before the start of Round 2. There’s not much wiggle room to deal with weather as there isn’t anywhere as much daylight to work with this time of year as there is in April.
Casey has never won a major title, but he is usually part of the mix at Augusta. He has had five top-10 finishes, with his best showing being a tie for fourth in 2016.
Augusta National isn’t allowing fans.
Tigers shot a first round 68 and is currently three shots off the lead at -4.
Phil Mickelson did not complete his first round, and at the end of Thursday he sits at -1.