Kyle Stanley shoots 75 in the first round of the Masters
Kyle Stanley scored a 3-over par, standing tied for the 64th position in the first round of the Masters played on Thursday, April 5, 2012.
The 24-year-old American professional golf player is playing his first Masters Tournament, in which he has so far displayed an average performance.
He was unable to impress the spectators and ended the round in frustration at the Augusta National Golf Club, in Augusta, Georgia.
Stanley started the round at par and made a birdie on the 2nd hole. Later, he faced several difficulties while scoring on the front nine holes of the course. He made a bogey on the 4th and a double-bogey on the 7th hole.
Then he scored two more birdies on the back nine of the course. However, three unimpressive bogeys on the 10th, 16th and 17th holes took him down.
He shot a 75 on the first day, whereas he was surrounded by many competent rivals. Speaking to the media at the end of the round, Stanley admitted that his strokes and swings were not up to the mark.
"Yeah, it factored into (shot selection) a little bit. It's just kind of a guessing game. You try and err on the right side," Stanley said. "I was probably a little bit too cautious at times, and just left myself some difficult ups and downs".
The reason for such a mediocre performance may be the wetness of the greens. On Wednesday, a thunderstorm hit Augusta and rain made the course tougher than usual.
"It's tough because it's so wet, and it's sometimes hard to judge the ball, and hitting it and it not really going anywhere," Stanley added.
The world number 47 is the winner of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a PGA-staged event. In another interview, he said he has no expectations for the Masters. He is only focusing to score well and better than before.
"To be honest, I didn't really have a lot of expectations this week. Like I said, the game hasn't really been there — or it has, and I just haven't been scoring," he said.
Lee Westwood is the current leader of the tournament. He scored a 5-under 67 and competed well till the end of the day.
Now, all the players will tee off the second round on Friday. If Stanley remains under par on most of the holes, he can be in the top-10 on the leaderboard.
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