ZACH Johnson may have been anxious to start the first round of The Masters on Thursday but he does not appear to be in any hurry to relinquish his hold on the green jacket.
Johnson started his first round as a Masters champion with a solid two-under-par 70 at Augusta National.
With four birdies and two bogeys, Johnson put himself in the clubhouse just two shots behind the leaders and in a good position to defend his
Masters title.
Much of the pre-tournament hype surrounded Tiger Woods and his bid for a Grand Slam but Johnson thrust himself back into the spotlight with a steady round and the early hype looked a bit premature after Woods' even-par 72 that did not include a birdie.
Johnson does not seem to mind being lost in the Woods build-up, at least not outwardly, all he could focus on was getting the tournament under way.
"I couldn't wait for Thursday," Johnson said. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday was very smooth, but Thursday I was ready for."
Johnson wasted no time showing he was not going to relinquish the title without a fight, draining a 15-footer for birdie on the very first hole.
"Making a 15-footer on the first hole for birdie just gives you good momentum," Johnson said. "It gives you confidence that you're doing the right thing."
He did the right thing in the par-four fifth, bombing one in from 40 feet for birdie to get to two under and put his name near the top of the leaderboard.
He dropped a shot at the ninth, where his par putt lipped out but he bounced back early coming in.
An eight iron to one foot resulted in a birdie at the par-three 12th and Johnson finished Amen Corner with another 15-foot birdie, this one on the par-five 13th.
A bogey at 17 dropped him two off the lead, but all in all, it was a good first day.
"I was anxious. I mean, I was ready to go," Johnson said. "I was ready probably last week. It's one of those things where I just couldn't wait to get started. I just wanted to put last year behind me and start playing again."
And after getting his first round as a Masters champion out of the way, Johnson is pleased but not getting too far ahead of himself.
"I feel good, yeah, But you know, Thursday, you can't win it. I'm not thinking about last year. I played April 10 for April 10. that kind of sounds pretty simple and elementary, but maybe that's how my brain functions. It's just a good, solid round going into the next."
Latest leading positions in the first round of the The Masters.(USA unless stated, par 72 (x) denotes amateurs):Time: 00.57 BST
4 under – Trevor Immelman (Rsa) (after 18 holes)
Justin Rose (Eng) (18)
Lee Westwood (Eng) (16)
3 under – Brian Bateman (18)
Brandt Snedeker (18)
Jim Furyk (17)
2 under – Stephen Ames (Can) (18)
Zach Johnson (18)
Robert Karlsson (Swe) (18)
Ian Poulter (Eng) (18)
1 under – Paul Casey (Eng) (18)
Retief Goosen (Rsa) (18)
Peter Lonard (Aus) (18)
Arron Oberholser (18)
Mark O'Meara (18)
Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) (18)
Heath Slocum (18)
Phil Mickelson (17)
level – Robert Allenby (Aus) (18)
Justin Leonard (18)
The full article contains 566 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
