Spieth back in his comfort zone at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods attracted most of the attention. Jordan Spieth caused the most concern.

Opening day at the Masters had a wide-open feel until Spieth hit his stride Thursday afternoon. He saved three straight pars with that superb short game. He ran off three straight birdies to take the lead. And then he fired an 8-iron at the pin on the par-3 16th, letting the club twirl through his hands as he walked away, knowing only that it was another good one. It plopped down 5 feet away.

“You don’t know where it’s going to end up,” he said, “but you know it’s going to be in a good position.”

Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine. He made five straight birdies, a career best for him in the majors. Even a bogey on the final hole felt like a par the way he navigated out of the trees and limited the damage with a pitch that stopped inches from going in.

That gave him a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.

It was the eighth time in his last 13 rounds at the Masters that Spieth ended a round with the lead. Given his short history at Augusta National — a victory, two runner-up finishes and a tie for 11th — his name atop the leaderboard gets attention.

Ditto for Woods, except that he has some catching up to do.

Woods failed to birdie any of the par 5s. He was under par one only one hole. He hit a 9-iron into Rae’s Creek. And only a pair of birdies over the last five holes enabled him to scratch out a 73 and at least stay in range, seven shots behind.

“Seventy-three is fine,” Woods said. “By the end of the week, this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up. They have it right where they want it. It’s really hard to run away from it, but it’s also really easy to lose it out there.”

Spieth could have built a bigger margin except for his wild tee shot to the left and into the trees on No. 18. Even so, his 66 sent a strong message.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” said Kuchar, who shot 31 on the back nine. “With the round he’s posted, the quality of golfer he is, he’s on some similar form. You can just kind of see good things happening, and particularly for him around here. His record is spectacular around here.”

Rory McIlroy, needing only a green jacket to compete the career Grand Slam, also took notice. He played in the group ahead of Spieth, and McIlroy was scratching our key par saves just to stay in range. He was in the large group at 69, the solid start McIlroy needed, especially with how Spieth was going.

It was the first time since 2011 that McIlroy broke 70 in the first round at Augusta.

“Jordan had a pretty strong finish there,” McIlroy said. “But this is my best start in a few years. It’s such a hard golf course to play catch up on. If you start to chase it around here, that’s when you start to make mistakes. But to be right up there and have the ability to stay patient, because of the position I’m in, that’s a nice luxury I have over the next few days.”