MASTERS THURSDAY NOTEBOOK: RAHM’S 73 MAKES FOR DIFFICULT TITLE DEFENSE

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A year ago, Jon Rahm opened with a 65 en route to winning the Masters. 

Thursday’s first round of his title defense was not a repeat performance.

Rahm shot a 1-over 73, suffering three bogeys on his final five holes, leaving himself with plenty of work to do if he hopes to become the fourth player to successfully defend at Augusta National.

RELATED: DECHAMBEAU HAS BEEN BUILDING TO THIS 65 FOR EIGHT MONTHS

In the previous 18 Masters, the winner has never been outside the top 11 after the first round. Only one player this century has won the Masters after starting with a round above par – Tiger Woods in 2005, when he opened with a 74 before shooting 66-65-71 to make the playoff against Chris DiMarco.

“I haven’t made it easy for myself, have I?” Rahm said. “Have to start making up some ground quickly.”

Rahm’s putter betrayed him with three-putts, but he also put himself in poor position several times on the back nine.

“It's a difficult golf course,” said the Legion XIII captain. “That's all I can say. It's not easy. You're not really having the luxury out there of being able to miss shots, especially tee shots. Unfortunately, on that back nine, I missed a few too many shots.”

NIEMANN SHOOTS 70: Torque GC Captain Joaquin Niemann is playing this week’s Masters thanks to a special invitation from tournament officials. 

His 2-under 70 put him inside the top 10 on the clubhouse leaderboard. Having won two LIV Golf tournaments this season, Niemann is ready to take advantage of the opportunity to win his first major.

“I need to still do the same, just commit to my shots,” Niemann said. “Same routine, same everything. If I'm hitting it better, I might have a good chance.”

CAM UNDER PAR: Cameron Smith was not happy with his tee shot at the par-3 12, slamming his club back into his bag after the ball came up short of the green and rolled back into Rae’s Creek.

It cost him a double bogey and sent him back to even par for the day, but his birdie on the par-5 15th at least returned him to red figures by the end of the round, as he shot a 1-under 71.

“Honestly, it felt really good today,” said Smith, who came into the week after withdrawing from LIV Golf Miami due to food poisoning. “Not too much to complain about. I think like that shot on 12, obviously, is a poor one, but you're going to get those around here. Probably a couple of putts that could have gone in.

“If you take those away, all of a sudden it's 3- or 4-under pretty quickly and it's a really good day.”

GOOD START FOR HATTON: Rahm’s Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton doesn’t have the kind of track record at Augusta National to give him much confidence. He joked last weekend when Legion XIII won LIV Golf Miami that “me making the weekend around that place is like almost having the green jacket.”

Well, Hatton is in excellent shape to win his “personal” green jacket. Through 14 holes in the first round, Hatton is 3 under and en route to having his lowest opening-round score in his eighth Masters start.

Hatton was one of five players unable to finish their rounds due to darkness, with the first round delayed at the start of the day following heavy rains.

The other four LIV golfers yet to finish are Patrick Reed (2 under through 14), Brooks Koepka (even par through 11), Bubba Watson (1 over through 15) and Dustin Johnson (1 over through 10). 

The five players will resume their rounds early Friday, then have a quick turnaround to start their second rounds.

MICKELSON SHOOTS 73: Three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson, making his 31st start at Augusta National, started his day with a bogey and suffered two more late in his round. But the HyFlyers GC captain was solid in between to shoot a 1-over 73.

“I hit a lot of good shots,” said the 53-year-old Mickelson, who tied for second last year. “I made some good putts. I feel good with my game actually. I feel like I'm driving the ball well. I feel like I'm rolling it pretty good. You just kind of have to take what the course gives you.

“And there's some holes that will be birdie opportunities with the pins, and I feel like I'm playing well enough to take advantage of them. There's three more rounds. I'm looking forward to them.”

(Photo courtesy of Thomas Lovelock/Masters)