When Dust Settles, Paulson Leads at 68

By MIKE JAMES

April 7, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

AUGUSTA, Ga. —

The swirling gusts at Augusta National on Thursday in the first round of the Masters left players wondering whether they should have packed wind gauges in their bags and just about blew all the red numbers off the scoreboards.

Only nine players broke par on Day 1, and most of them considered it a great stroke of luck that they not only survived the wind, they didn’t get blown into Rae’s Creek the way so many shots around Amen Corner did.

“With the way the trees blow here, it messes with your head. It really does,” said Dennis Paulson, who overcame a double bogey on No. 11 to shoot a four-under-par 68 for a one-shot lead over Tom Lehman.

Paulson--the 1985 long-drive champion, a veteran of three years on the Asian tour and a first-time Masters player at 37--was steadier during his round than anyone in the field of 95. He had five birdies and an eagle, but, like almost everyone, could no more figure out what the wind was doing than explain how 63-year-old Tommy Aaron could shoot even-par 72 and beat Tiger Woods by three shots.

How difficult was it to read the wind?

“I was just standing on the green watching [Lee Westwood] knock in a four- or five-footer,” Phil Mickelson said, “and his pants just starting bristling back and forth. . . . The wind is howling five yards away from me. It pushed him away, knocking him off balance, and I didn’t feel a thing.”

Sergio Garcia, last year’s low amateur in the Masters and second to Woods in the ’99 PGA Championship, shot two-under 34 on the back to finish at 70 and tied for third with Steve Stricker.

Five players were at 71--Mickelson, Rocco Mediate, Steve Jones, Thomas Bjorn and Bernhard Langer. Three of the nine players under par--Paulson, Mediate and Jones--had double bogeys on holes 11, 12 or 13, where pollen and blooming azaleas have kicked up players’ allergies (including Woods’) and been a backdrop for disaster. No. 11 was the toughest hole on the day, with little No. 12 right behind.

Jones had to make about an 18-footer from the fringe to salvage a double bogey on the par-three 12th after hitting into the water, Paulson double-bogeyed 11 when he hit into the water in front of the green on his second shot, and Mediate double-bogeyed 13 after hooking a drive and losing the ball.

Woods, the prohibitive favorite coming in, was even par at the turn, double bogeyed No. 10, then made a triple bogey on 12 after hitting an eight-iron into the water, chipping to 15 feet and three-putting.

“[The wind] is all over the place,” Woods said. “No. 4 was very interesting because we threw up grass, and it blew downwind, right to left, and then left to right three different times.”

Woods was playing in the marquee group Thursday. Of course, he could be playing with two cigar-chomping used-car salesmen from Hoboken and it would still be the biggest attraction. Australian amateur Aaron Baddeley, who shot 77 in his Masters debut, and Stewart Cink, who matched Woods’ 75, played the used-car salesmen.

As is usually the case with the Masters, there is an army of players with solid resumes within striking distance. Ernie Els is one of a dozen players at even par, along with such players as defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal, Justin Leonard, Darren Clarke, Hal Sutton, Paul Azinger and three-time champion Nick Faldo, who hasn’t made the cut here since he won in 1996.

Els, however, wasn’t too pleased to be in that group. He was leading the tournament at three under at one point before a double bogey on 15 unraveled him. Els’ group was put on the clock for slow play after a problem on 13, though he said the official, John Pardmore, told them they did not have a bad time.

“It was really uncalled-for,” Els said. “I rushed a shot on 15. It stuck with me for three holes. An idiot official. It was ridiculous.”

Officials had no comment on the matter.

Mediate produced the first Masters roar on a day that produced more groans than cheers. The gallery shook the needles on the pines around the course when he spun back a 115-yard pitching wedge into the hole for an eagle on the par-four third hole.

He gave back two strokes with bogeys on the next two holes and got to two under before his double bogey on 13.

“This place will destroy you,” he said. And it nearly did.

But Mediate managed to finish at one under and was the early leader in the clubhouse for much of the day while many of the players he had been trailing went to pieces on the back nine.

“It’s one of the most penalizing golf courses there is,” Mediate said. “It shows your weakness. I showed some weakness out there and paid dearly.”

Craig Stadler, the winner in 1982, was cruising along at three under through 14 before he plunked two shots--from 97 yards and 85 yards--into the water in front of the 15th green for a quadruple-bogey nine, another victim of the ill winds on the back nine.

Lehman was leading by a stroke until he hit a tee shot into the trees on the right on 18 and three-putted for a double bogey. That happened as Paulson was holding a news conference in the media center and was being shown on video screens while he was discussing his round. Paulson slipped occasional glances at the screen but wasn’t looking when Lehman missed the putt that gave Paulson the outright lead.

Asked how it felt to be the sole leader after the first round of the Masters, Paulson replied more like a veteran of this storied tournament than a rookie.

“It’s too early to worry about it,” he said. “Let’s have sole possession of the lead Sunday on the back nine somewhere.”

But when he then spoke about being at Augusta for the first time, the impact of the moment was clear.

“It’s awesome,” he said, recalling a trip past the course in 1998 after winning a Nike Tour event when his caddie, Andrew Pfannkuche, told him that this was where he belonged.

“The first tee was special,” Paulson said. “Hit a great drive, got a tear in the eye.”

No problem if anyone else saw that. He could blame it on the wind.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

MASTERS / THE SCORING

Eagles: 7

Birdies: 221

Pars: 987

Bogeys: 428

Double Bogeys: 56

Others: 11

Scoring Average: 75.59

Par: 72