Jordan Spieth continued his remarkable form at Augusta National on the first day of the Masters, carding a splendid 64, just one shot off the course record, to put the 21-year-old three strokes clear of the chasing pack in Georgia.
After finishing tied for second in last year’s renewal, Spieth’s first crack at the Masters and only his fifth Major appearance, the Texan’s round record in the tournament reads 71-70-70-72-64, and he’s yet to hand in an over-par scorecard.
Masters first-round leader Jordan Spieth
However, bwin’s 2/1 about Spieth landing his first Green Jacket seems a little short considering the conversion rate of first-round leaders to winners over the past decade, especially having taken into account the quality of the pack that’s chasing him.
Trevor Immelman is the only player to win the title having bossed the first day since 2005, as the South African held the joint-clubhouse lead, with Justin Rose, on Thursday evening seven years ago.
With that in mind, looking further down the field, though not too far down, is advised.
Each of the past nine winners, bar Immelman, have been between one and four shots off the pace after the first day, which suggests value in the outright market will be found within the next six challengers, each of whom are three or four strokes behind Spieth.
Of this sextet, namely Jason Day, Ernie Els, Justin Rose, Charlie Hoffman, Sergio Garcia and Russell Henley, the former looks just about the best bet with US Masters odds at 5/1.
Australian Augusta expert Day claimed top-three finishes in two of the past four Masters and has been in cracking form so far this year, banking $1m-plus when winning the Farmers Insurance Open in February, and posting four further top-five placings in seven outings since the start of December.
World number one Rory McIlroy has a job on his hands after a steady 71 on Thursday, leaving Northern Ireland’s finest seven shots behind Speith and 8/1 to take the title, but the stats say there’s still hope he can become the second youngest entrant into golf’s career Grand Slam club (and the first European).
Tiger Woods, who is the youngest member of the five-strong clan, posted a 74 on the first day of his last Masters win in 2005, leaving him (you guessed it) seven shots off the pace set by Chris DiMarco.
Woods ended up beating the New Yorker into second by three strokes, despite still being four behind at close of play on Saturday.
Judging by Nike’s latest advert, McIlroy will be only too aware of this blip in the first-round form book, and take solace from it.
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