Big names get in show, but Spieth leading man at Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. - It took most of Thursday to get in gear, but by dinnertime there they all were, still on the course at Augusta National Golf Club, the shadows growing longer, the Masters growing more appetizing. Phil Mickelson walked up the 18th fairway, tugging on his cap in appreciation. Rory McIlroy rolled in a putt at the 17th, then strutted his most confident strut to the final tee box. Tony Finau, a Masters rookie who nearly became a Masters tragedy, was off answering questions about how he put his first appearance in absolute jeopardy, yet shot 68 anyway.

But the new reality at the Masters is that until Jordan Spieth has recorded his score, you just don't know what the theme of the day will be. While all the above transpired, Spieth - playing in the penultimate group of the first round - softly landed his tee shot within a few feet of the par-3 16th. When he drained the putt, he pumped his fist. When he picked the ball from the bottom of the cup, he had, to no one's surprise, the lead.

Thus, this Masters for which we have waited - tapping our fingers nervously, humming a tune to pass the time - provided precisely what we hoped. Spieth is the leading man, for sure, because he opened the fifth Masters of his already prodigious career with a 66 to lead by two. While all those other characters went about what, by comparison, seemed to be pedestrian business, Spieth came close to obliterating what looked like a crowded leaderboard by reeling off five straight birdies on the back nine.

This is, of course, all by design. Spieth is 24, and he already has three major championships - including the 2015 Masters - to his name.

"We build plans for the year to peak at certain times," Spieth said. "And I believe that, not just here at Augusta but the major championships going back a number of years, I've played really well."

Here he is again, a factor at Augusta as reliable as the azaleas.

So gather your thoughts and get ready for a Friday that seems likely to be delicious. So many of the flavors are there. Spieth's two-shot lead is over Finau, whose story this week currently outweighs the accomplishments of his golf career, and Matt Kuchar, the perpetually smiling longtime tour pro who has never won a major. But the group that managed 3-under-par 69s included McIlroy, who would complete the career Grand Slam with a victory here; Swedish star Henrik Stenson, who has no record to speak of at Augusta but is perhaps the best ball-striker in the galaxy; Patrick Reed, the feisty American for whom majors seem in the offing; and Haotong Li, a 22-year-old from China who had never played here before last week.

Go on down the list. Mickelson, a three-time champ, missed a short putt at 18 to join that group but is still 2 under, as is Rickie Fowler, chasing his first major as his youth runs the other way. Even Tiger Woods, making his first start at a major championship in three years, plugged the leaks in a round that might have gotten away and turned in a 73 - not near the top but not out of it, either.

"By the end of the week, this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up," Woods said. "They have it right where they want it. It's really hard to run away with it, but it's also really easy to lose it out there."

When Woods said that, Spieth was still on the front nine. It's becoming increasingly clear that the rules about this place, the norms for others, might not apply to him. It's worth remembering that his first three appearances here resulted in the following finishes: second, first, second - the last only because he inexplicably melted down at the exasperating par-3 12th in the final round, dumping a pair of shots in the water. Last year, he slipped to 11th - a position that would represent Stenson's best Masters finish.

If anything was determined Thursday, it's that what appeared to be a wide-open event now has a clear favorite. Spieth has played 17 career rounds in the Masters. He has led alone or shared the lead after nine of them.

"I'll always have demons out here," he said. "But I'll always have a tremendous amount of confidence here. Once you win here, you have a tremendous advantage over anybody who hasn't won here."

That's not a direct shot at anyone, but it does apply. Finau, a 28-year-old from Utah whose most significant victory to date was the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, was on his way to making himself the central story line of the first round before Spieth's fireworks. On Wednesday, he played the Par-3 Contest for the first time, and when he aced the seventh hole of that just-for-fun event, he threw his hands in the air and began jogging down toward the green - backward.

Perhaps halfway there, disaster - or nearly so. Finau rolled his left ankle - and badly. He did not dislocate it, though when he bent over and shoved it back upright, it looked as if that's precisely what happened. Rather, an MRI exam showed he strained ligaments, suffering a high ankle sprain.

Anyone who saw the injury had to wonder whether Finau would be able to tee it up Thursday. Put Finau in that group, too.

"When I woke up this morning, nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me," he said. "I could barely put any pressure on it. I could barely walk."

And yet, had the tumble not been replayed on national television, his play would never have revealed the severity of the issue. He made the first of his six birdies at the second, and he was off. Equally impressive: On a day when several players failed to close out their rounds properly, Finau got up-and-down by rolling in a nice par-saving putt at 18, closing out an insane 24 hours with a steady pulse.

"The emotions have been pretty crazy," Finau said. "I looked forward to this week for a really long time, and to see the possibility of that slipping away ... "

He couldn't finish the thought. There is, of course, much more work ahead. Now Finau has played a round in the Masters, but his next will be near the lead - with all those other characters swarming around. Foremost among them is Spieth. At No. 18, after those five birdies in a row, he somehow lost his tee shot well left. After he punched out, he needed to launch a 3-wood toward the green and hope to get up-and-down for bogey.

"I've had to do some interesting things on 18 in my career here," Spieth said. The most recent is chipping from the area left of the green to tap-in range, a bogey that somehow sustained momentum, leaving him comfortably in front.

"If you get off to a good start," Spieth said, "you're in control of your own fate versus needing some help."

So after one round, Jordan Spieth is in control of his own fate - to a degree. But there are 54 holes remaining, and the cast behind him, with some of the best names the game has to offer, might be the kind that can prevent him from making this a romp.