Huston, Your Eagle Has Landed

So what do you call that thing they were playing here Thursday? The Masters of Disaster?

It was only the first round at Augusta National, but if it gets any worse, they’re going to have to change the clubhouse into an infirmary and start giving out inoculations with tee times.

John Huston discovered the best way to avoid misery around the greens was to avoid them entirely. That’s exactly what he did when he holed out from 190 yards for an eagle on No. 18, closing out a five-under-par 67 that gave him a one-shot lead over Paul Stankowski.

Huston, a 35-year-old Floridian who wears his cap pulled tightly down around his ears, missed the right side of the fairway by 30 yards with his drive and hit a tree.

Standing closer to the 10th fairway than the 18th green, Huston pulled a five-iron out of his bag, swung hard and knocked the ball into the bottom of the cup after a short roll.

“I was lucky it found its way into the hole,” Huston said.

But Augusta National was rationing luck on Day 1. The field of 86 players turned in a stroke average of 76.09, which was nothing compared to the blood-pressure measurements.

“I have no comment on that . . . out there,” Fuzzy Zoeller said.

It was the fifth-toughest opening day at the Masters since 1960, when they started keeping track of such things.

Actually, there were only two things about Augusta National that were difficult--pins that were put in places you couldn’t get to with a map and greens harder than concrete.

Jeff Maggert said he didn’t think the Masters officials could make pin placements any more difficult.

“Maybe on the side of the hills,” he said. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Seven players finished with scores under par and although Huston was the best, his lead is hardly substantial.

Stankowski birdied the 18th out of a fairway bunker to finish with a 68, one shot ahead of Paul Azinger. Tiger Woods shot a near-record 30 on the back nine en route to a two-under 70 that featured an eagle on the par-five 15th, where he hit a pitching wedge from 151 yards to four feet.

Woods was four over par on the front but picked up five shots in the next six holes.

The only other players who beat par were Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Price and Costantino Rocca, a trio at 71.

Most everybody else had one of those days he’d just as soon forget about.

U.S. Open champion Steve Jones shot an 82, and had a triple-bogey eight on the eighth hole with a four-putt.

Defending champion Nick Faldo, who three-putted once in four rounds last year, three-putted five greens on the front nine of 41 and wound up with a 75.

Loren Roberts had three sevens and shot 85, 13 over par.

Arnold Palmer shot 89, the worst round of his professional career. His highest round in 43 other Masters appearances was an 83, in the first round in 1987.

Gary Player, who is 61 years old, shot a 76 and that was better than 40 other players.

Maybe the worst day of all was had by 38-year-old Ken Green, who had a 46 on the front and finished with an 87. Even 74-year-old Doug Ford had an 85.

Green stood over a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 2 but got a seven instead when he four-putted. He had one par, two double bogeys and six bogeys on the front.

The lowlight of the back was Green’s quadruple-bogey seven on the par-three 16th, where he five-putted from six feet. Twice the ball ran back downhill off the green.

When it was over, Green had 44 putts, 43 other shots and a very woeful countenance.

“It’s probably the most embarrassing round I ever had because I actually tried,” he said.

Meanwhile, down there at five-over 77, you can find a list of players that includes Greg Norman, PGA champion Mark Brooks, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Kite, Brad Faxon and Craig Stadler.

Huston is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, but he hasn’t won since the 1994 Doral. He said he wasn’t even nervous when he looked at his second shot at the 18th from there in the pine needles next to the 10th fairway.

“No more nervous than usual,” he said. “It’s like driving on ice. You’ve got both hands on the wheel and you can’t stop.”

That is remarkably close to the sensation Thursday of putting on slick greens. Norman surely experienced it on the second, where he double bogeyed.

Norman was in front of the right greenside bunker in two and chipped 15 feet past the hole. His putt rolled back off the green, close to where he had been standing before. He chipped on again and two-putted for a seven.

“It was like walking through rattlesnakes,” Lee Janzen said after a 72.

“It was a wild golf course today,” said John Cook, who had a 77.

It was almost as wild as Stankowski’s golf shirt. The 27-year-old who was born in Oxnard, playing in his second Masters, finished in style.

Stankowski’s drive landed in a bunker on the left and he smashed an eight-iron to four feet. From there, he rolled in the birdie putt and decided that he didn’t mind the speed of the greens after all.

“That’s what makes it fun,” Stankowski said. “If I have the speed down, they’re like any other greens we play.”

And if you don’t?

“Then I’m in for a real hurting time.”

For one round, it was a hurting time for a lot of people.

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Bad Start

This year’s first-round scores in the Masters were high, but not the highest ever. Here are the highest rounds at Augusta National. *--*

ROUND AVG. SCORE PLAYERS 1997 1st round 76.09 93 1982 1st round 77.32 75 1954 2nd round 76.96 74 1956 3rd round 78.56 78 1956 4th round 78.26 77

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