AUGUSTA, Ga. — Chad Campbell ran off five straight birdies, the best start ever in the Masters. Jim Furyk charged up the crowd with four straight birdies late in his round. Even that notoriously slow starter, Tiger Woods, got in on the action.
Anyone worried that Augusta National had lost its excitement only had to listen to the sweetest of sounds Thursday.
The roars returned to the Masters.
Campbell led an assault on the record book with nine birdies in 15 holes before two late mistakes made him settle for a 7-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Furyk and Hunter Mahan.
“It is nice to hear some noises again,” Sandy Lyle said.
Augusta National cooked up the perfect formula for record scoring — warm sunshine and only a gentle breeze, along with inviting hole locations and greens that were soft and smooth.
The cheers came from all corners for 11 hours of golf that produced six eagles and 354 birdies. There were 19 rounds in the 60s, the most ever for the first round, and only four fewer than the entire tournament last year.
It was so easy that Woods nearly broke 70 in the opening round for the first time in his career.
Playing in his first major since winning the U.S. Open last summer, Woods ran off three straight birdies late in the afternoon and was poised to climb even farther up the leaderboard until he missed birdie putts of eight feet and four feet, then hit a shot over the 18th green that led to a bogey and a 2-under 70.
Even so, it was his first time to break par in the first round of the Masters since 2002, one of four years he’s won a green jacket.
“They must have felt sorry for us,” Campbell said.
Masters chairman Billy Payne had said this year would be an important test to show that supersizing the golf course — it has been stretched more than 500 yards this decade — would not take the thrills out of the Masters.
The weather was ideal, yes, but the club did its part, too, with greens softer than they have been all week and hole locations that allowed players to attack the pins.
The result was 38 rounds under par, another Masters record for the first round.
One of those belonged to former champion Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., who was just three shots off the pace after opening with a 68. Calgary’s Stephen Ames had an opening-round 1-over-par 73.
Greg Norman played for the first time since 2002, and the 54-year-old Shark was shocked by all the changes. Even more shocking was that he shot a 70 and was mildly disappointed.
“Really could have shot a nice, mid-60s score today,” Norman said. “I’m not complaining.”
The average score was 72.25, nearly two shots easier than a year ago and the lowest since it was 72.06 in 1992.
“This day was reminiscent of how it used to be,” Woods said. “You could go out there on that back nine and make some birdies, and if you caught some good gusts, you could shoot some pretty good numbers.”
Woods figured that out even before he got to the back nine.
If the cheers weren’t enough, all he had to do was look at the white leaderboards that were filled with red numbers.
Larry Mize, in his rookie year on the Champions Tour, became only the second player over 50 to shoot a 67. The other was Jack Nicklaus, who did it twice.
Shingo Katayama also had a 67, while the group at 68 included 48-year-old Kenny Perry, former Masters champion Mike Weir, Sean O’Hair and former U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera. British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington opened with a 69, a strong start in his bid to join Woods and Ben Hogan as the only players to win three successive majors.
The Irishman once said Augusta National was among the few courses that could control the scores by how the course was set up, and it was so perfect that he wondered whether the club had more power than he imagined.
“They got a nice, sunny day with no wind,” he said. “Do they have control over that?”