England's Ross Fisher grabbed a share of the early clubhouse lead on the opening day of the 75th Masters on Thursday, rebounding from a rocky start to card a three-under par 69. The 30-year-old Ryder Cup star, making his third appearance at Augusta National, recorded the very first bogey of the tournament on the opening hole after setting out in the lead grouping shortly after sunrise.
He dropped another at the tough par-three fourth, but banged in birdies at the second, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth to reach the turn in three-under 33. Fisher's wife Jo is expecting the couple's second child at the start of next week and he has already said he is unsure what he would do if the birth comes early.
He continued to charge on the back nine with a birdie at 11, but dropped a shot at the 17th to come in with a 69. That was matched shortly after by American Brandt Snedeker, a third-place finisher here in 2008. Fisher admitted to being "a little bit disappointed" to have to settle for a 69.
"I felt like I played very nicely today," he said. "I holed some real good putts. Any time you can make five birdies on the front nine is very pleasing. "I was just trying to take some momentum into the back nine. I holed a monster on 11, I made a great save on 12 out of the front trap, but I wanted to birdie the par-fives and unfortunately I didn't do that. "It was a shame to drop one on 17 - I just didn't hit a good drive."
Behind him, South African veteran Retief Goosen made the perfect start to the tournament with an eagle two at the tough 445-yard opening hole, only the fifth player to do so at the start of a round in Masters history. The two-time US Open champion followed up with birdies at three and four to get to four-under and picked up another at the eighth to reach the turn in a scorching 31 before bogeys at 11 and 12 set him back.
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