AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Amen Corner put Bryson DeChambeau through the wringer again.
DeChambeau needed three shots to exit a greenside bunker on the 11th hole at Augusta National, and he never really recovered from that triple bogey in a first-round 76 at the Masters on Thursday. DeChambeau faces an uphill climb if he’s going to put himself in the position he was in last year — playing in the final group on the final day.
“Just going to give what the golf course gives me,” he said. “I have to try to hit my irons better. I drove it left numerous occasions.”
The worst opening round by a Masters winner was Craig Stadler’s 75 in 1982.
It was the pond on the 11th hole that did DeChambeau in last year. His shot into the water led to a double bogey, and he was unable to keep up with Rory McIlroy, who beat Justin Rose in a playoff.
This time, DeChambeau was in the bunker to the right of the green, the opposite side from the water. His first two shots didn’t make it out.
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” he said.
That DeChambeau was even in that position was surprising, given that he was sitting pretty in the fairway after his tee shot. His approach went into the bunker after a couple bounces.
“The ball flew 12 yards farther than I wanted it to,” said DeChambeau, who hit only eight greens in regulation. “I had a good shot.”
DeChambeau, who won twice recently on the LIV Tour, had seven holes left to make up for his nightmare on No. 11. He didn’t give himself many opportunities.
He parred the par-3 12th, the second of the three Amen Corner holes, after missing the green. After wayward drives, he didn’t go for the green on either of the remaining par 5s — Nos. 13 and 15. He missed the green from about 65 yards on 13 and about 105 on 15, doing well just to save par on the latter.
His round ended with a three-putt bogey on 16, an approach to 8 feet for a birdie on 17, and then a tee shot into a bunker that led to a bogey on 18.
That won’t cut it if he wants to be a factor this weekend.
“Everybody has an ability for weird things to happen, and today I just did not have my irons under control, which is weird,” DeChambeau said. “It’s been good coming into it.”
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