The pearls of the first day of the Augusta Masters: the efforts of Tiger Woods, the most exclusive dinner and the rival who proposed the weather

The summary of Tiger Woods' performance

On Thursday in Augusta, the first major championship of the year was launched. The 50 millimeters that fell between Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning caused everything to take half an hour, but nothing stopped another Masters tradition from happening.

In 1981 a golf legend such as Byron Nelson, a two-time Masters winner, was named by the club as Honorary Starter. He was joined by Gene Sarazen, winner in 1935, and Sam Snead, who won the tournament three times. Early on Thursday the three of them met on the tee of 1, hit a starting shot and the tournament was inaugurated. The death of these three legends left a space that was empty for several years, until in 2007 the club offered Arnold Palmer to strike the opening coup. Three years later, Jack Nicklaus, the top winner of the Masters with 6 titles, joined and in 2012 the trio was completed by South African Gary Player, the first international player to win the tournament. Palmer's death left a place that only this year was completed when the club invited Tom Watson, twice winner, to occupy it.

It was drizzling in Augusta on Thursday morning, but the three legends were present at 1 as on so many other occasions. The club's Chariman made the presentations and Player (86) was the first to hit, behind him it was Nicklaus (82) and when it was the turn, Watson (72), asked permission to say a few words. He thanked the club for the distinction and said he was very honored to be able to share that moment with two golf legends.

The 86th edition of the Masters was inaugurated and everyone was waiting for 11.04 to see Tiger Woods' return to competitive golf. The 5-time winner of the Masters did not let anyone down and ended up signing a card of 71, 1 under par, with some strokes that reminded a young tiger. At the end, they asked him to describe the round and he said: “Very difficult,” and he added, “to get to tomorrow well I have to get into a bathtub of ice water.” He was seen walking with some difficulty and on his face when he finished he could see the effort he had made to finish the round. We'll see what happens, but the fans left Augusta happy just because they saw him play again after the huge accident.

Last year the victory fell to the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama and everyone was aware of the menu he would choose for the traditional dinner of champions. This began in 1952 at the suggestion of Ben Hogan, who asked permission to hold a dinner with the former Masters winners. There was formed what is called the Masters Club, a place where you can only belong once you won the Masters. Dinner is held on Tuesday night and only the champions and chairman of the club attend. For years Byron Nelson was the host and his replacement more than 20 years ago was Ben Crenshaw, who said a few words and welcomed Matsuyama to the club. Gary Player got up and asked permission to say a few words, but clarified that he would do it in Japanese. The speech lasted a minute and Matsuyama deeply appreciated the South African's efforts in having done it in his own language. The menu was sushi/sashimi for starter, with a wagyu steak accompanied with mushrooms. Matsuyama comes from a back injury and signed the par 72.

The morning was perhaps the best part of the day to play because only after noon did the wind rise and those who played in the afternoon had to fight and a lot to succeed. The court was in perfect condition despite the heavy rain in recent days, thanks to a system that Augusta has and is unique in the world. Many years ago, someone from the club thought of putting a radiant system under the greens in order to manage the temperature of the floor. That was installed first on holes 12 and 16, both with plenty of shade for much of the day, and then extended to the rest of the holes. This was only on the greens, but then someone thought that this was also good for the whole court, but with one difference: we had to invent a system that could get moisture out of the fairways to be safe from the rains. This is how the Sub-Air System was born, which today made the court look as if it had never rained. I don't know exactly how it works, but you walk around certain places in the club and you hear some species of turbines under the ground and you see how steam comes out of some sewers. This is how they manage to dry the Augusta fairways.

At the end of the day, Korea's Sunjae Im came to the front with a 67-stroke card, with several of the candidates close to the tip. Australian Cameron Smith, who will finish second in 2020 and who has just won the Players Championship, left with 68, while a stroke behind are the new world No. 1, Scottie Schefler, Englishman Danny Willet, champion in 2016, Dustin Johnson, 2020 champion and Chilean Joaquín Niemann, who shared the exit with Tiger.

For the rest of the week the forecast is very good, but with a lot of wind, especially on Friday, and very cold on Saturday. When I say cold, I mean a minimum of 1 degree and a maximum of 14 for Saturday, with wind. Don't expect low scores and don't be surprised if the winning score is single digits under par. This is just beginning and the best is yet to come.

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