Friday 7 April 2017 00:34, UK
2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth admitted he failed to adapt to the conditions as a quadruple bogey at the 15th saw him finish his first round three over at Augusta National.
The 23-year-old two-time major winner was level par after 14 holes, gains at two and 13 cancelled out by bogeys at five and 14, but endured a nightmare few minutes to slide down the leaderboard.
Having found the water with his approach, Spieth then completely overshot the green with his next attempt and eventually found the hole in nine before bouncing back to birdie the 16th.
"You think of [the 15th] as a birdie hole, obviously being a par five," he said. "And unfortunately I still thought of it as a birdie hole today and it really isn't, when you layup.
"So I didn't take my medicine, and hit it about 15 feet right with a club that takes the spin off. Instead I was stuck in the 15 is a birdie hole mentality, and it kind of bit me a little bit. I struck the shot well, I just hit the wrong club.
"I moved up a few - 10, 15 yards on the next one and I clubbed down and that one just didn't hit the same wind. But you don't have much depth there, and I obviously wasn't going to hit it in the water again. So it just went over and from there it's very difficult."
World No 3 Jason Day also had some difficulties during his opening round as strong winds made life difficult for players throughout the day.
"Just grind. That's the only real thing you can do," said the Australian. "Just try and grind and have more birdies than bogeys.
"There's really nothing that you can do. But I think I'm playing some decent golf. I've just got to get myself a little bit closer to the hole."
Day, who is aiming to go one better than the second place he managed at Augusta in 2011, carded a two-over 74 and believes scoring will be easier come the weekend.
"If I get a good one going tomorrow maybe a couple under tomorrow, it shoots you right around the lead," he added.
"So with that said, we're going to have great weather on the weekend, you just have to go on through and try and make your birdies and stuff on the weekend."
Meanwhile, Rickie Fowler was one under through 17 but was left frustrated after double bogeying the last to card a one-over-par 73.
"I could have accepted five at the last, but I'm a little ticked off about making six," he said. "Other than that, it's a decent day.
"I got off to a solid start. It wasn't playing easy. You're not going to try to squeeze much out of the round today. Anything under par today was good and even par is still a good score and one over's not terrible."
The 28-year-old is still looking for his first major win and believes the blustery conditions could work in his favour over the next three days.
"I love playing in the wind," Fowler added. "This golf course is fun to play, you got to hit shots and quality golf shots especially in the wind, so the tournament's far from over."
Sergio Garcia is among a group tied for fourth on one-under par after a bogey-free round of 71, his solitary birdie coming at the eighth.
"I feel quite good," he said afterwards. "I'm not going to lie, it was a very, very difficult day out there.
"It was very blustery and it was difficult, not only to pick the right clubs but to get the speed of the putts right and believe that the ball was going to do what it was supposed to be doing.
"I tried not to put myself in a lot of trouble because, with the day that we had, that was easy to do. I'm very happy with going bogey-free today, that was probably the most positive thing."
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