Mason Howell opened his Masters debut Thursday by pulling his tee shot left of the first fairway and into the adjacent No. 9 fairway, then somehow saved par. The 18-year-old from Thomasville, a month from graduating high school, finished his first round at Augusta National with a 5-over 77.
Howell’s first hole set the tone for a day that was equal parts nerves and recovery. He could not see the flagstick from the No. 9 fairway, hit a pitching wedge 146 yards to the green and got down in two putts. He parred the first three holes, then needed four putts and took a double-bogey on the par-3 fourth. He later added four bogeys and another double bogey at 12, but birdied 8, 15 and 16 and closed by birdieing two of his final four holes.
The weight of the moment was obvious before he ever struck a shot. Howell was grouped with defending champion Rory McIlroy, who shot 5-under to take an early lead, and he said, “On the first tee, I couldn’t feel my arms.” By the end of the round, though, he said he had found a rhythm: “... But I got the driver cooking the rest of the round, so that will be a big confidence booster (Friday).”
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There was also a link to McIlroy that reached back nearly a decade. Howell revealed a golf ball the champion gave him at the Tour Championship, and the two spent time talking throughout the day. “We chatted a little bit all day,” Howell said. “It was great to pick his brain. I just kind of asked him what does he have coming up and how does he hit the ball so far.”
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The round matters because Howell is not just a teenager surviving a Masters stage far bigger than anything he has seen before. He is a University of Georgia golf signee playing in the 90th edition of the tournament this week, and Friday leaves him with an outside shot to make the cut if he can build on the way he finished. For a player who could not feel his arms on the first tee, that is a long way from ordinary.
