AUGUSTA, Ga. — Xander Schauffele had plenty of reasons to excel Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.
The 29-year-old recorded six birdies on his way to a 68 in the 2023 Masters Tournament opener. He was one third of a star-studded group in Viktor Hovland (who is currently tied for the lead at 7-under) and Tiger Woods.
“Felt like I was in control of the golf ball, moving it both ways. And, yeah, it’s great when someone in your group shoots 7-under. You want it to be you every time, but (Hovland) was the horse, so we’re chasing.”
His only blemishes on the day were bogeys on Nos. 7 and 17. The former almost wasn’t as he nearly drained a long putt for par.
Can momentum from a playing partner rub off on the rest of the group? Schauffele says there might be something to that.
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“I think so. I want to say it doesn’t really matter, but from, you know, historically or statistically, if you look, I think usually when there’s some guy shooting really low there’s other guys who will follow him,” he said. “They may not be the lowest rounds of the day either, but if someone’s shooting 7-under and a bunch of guys shoot 3-under with ’em, then I would say so.”
Seeing how the other guys in the group attack the course doesn’t hurt, either.
“Just seeing good tee balls. Usually, the guy who is low of the day will be hitting first off a lot of tees. So hitting a lot of fairways,” Schauffele said. “It’s nice lines to watch. Then guys are holing putts, so feels like you could do the same.”
With the weather everyone is expecting the rest of the week, Thursday might have been the day to sneak in a low number.
“I mean, based on the forecast, yes,” Schauffele said. “I don’t know, obviously, but from what I’ve seen, you know, it looks like it’s going to rain. Not only rain, but blow. And this is going to be a very long, long property when it does that.”
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