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| - US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau struggled to a double-bogey in his first showdown with Augusta National's Amen Corner during Thursday's opening round of the 84th Masters. DeChambeau found pine straw off the tee at the par-5 13th, then hit into bushes beyond the green and needed two chips to reach the green and two putts for double bogey after three opening pars. It was far from the overwhelming performance many had feared from DeChambeau, who decided against using an experimental maximum length 48-inch driver on the rain-soaked course. Long-driving DeChambeau overwhelmed Winged Foot in September with brute force on the way to his first major title, proving his risk-reward style of maximizing distance and location without regard to rough could produce a major victory. DeChambeau's practice-round blasts, declaration that he was playing to a par-67 and plans to re-route attack paths on certain holes stoked fears the 27-year-old American would overpower Augusta National. Instead, it was England's Lee Westwood and American Xander Schauffele sharing the early lead on 3-under par, with Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Australian Marc Leishman in a pack on 2-under. After starting with a 321-yard, 3-wood blast off the 10th tee, DeChambeau missed a five-foot birdie putt and made par. He began the famed three-hole Amen Corner stretch at the par-4 11th by sending his tee shot left into trees, blasting off the pine straw to right of the green, pitching to eight feet and making a par putt. Sixth-ranked DeChambeau parred the tricky par-3 12th, lipping out a 20-foot par putt, then walked to the tee at the 510-yard par-5 13th for a much-awaited moment. DeChambeau delivered a 291-yard tee shot right into pine straw, a tree limiting his shot to the green. He blasted an approach into bushes beyond the green, a provisional ball finding Rae's Creek. After digging his ball out of the bushes, DeChambeau botched his first chip from the rough, found the green with his fifth and two-putted for double bogey. DeChambeau, who bulked up during a three-month Covid-19 layoff, has averaged 68 over eight major rounds this year. His only round under 70 at Augusta was a 66 in last year's opening round. DeChambeau played alongside world number two Jon Rahm of Spain and South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion. Postponed from April and played without spectators due to the pandemic, the Masters used trios off two tees to maximize reduced autumn daylight. A thunderstorm delay of nearly three hours hit only 35 minutes into play, delaying DeChambeau's start and ensuring late groups would not finish 18 holes by dark for the first time since the third round in 2006. Defending champion Tiger Woods, two groups behind DeChambeau, opened with three pars as the 15-time major winner looked to match Jack Nicklaus with a record sixth Masters crown and break the mark he shares with Sam Snead of 82 career US PGA Tour titles. Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, trying to complete a career Grand Slam with a Masters victory, was set for an afternoon start alongside world number one Dustin Johnson, the 2020 PGA Player of the Year and Tour Championship winner. McIlroy could join Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only career Slam winners. Johnson is trying to win his second major title and become the first top-ranked player to win the Masters since Woods in 2002. A field of 92 starters from 23 nations included a record 26 players making Masters debuts, two more than the prior record set in 2014. js/jc
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