TG Blog: Battle commences

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By Kit Alexander, Features Writer

Thursday 7th April

After all the hype and build up, play finally got underway today and what a perfect day for golf it was.

The players took advantage of the clear blue skies, warm temperatures, only slight breeze and accessible pin positions to post some impressive opening scores and this made it the perfect day to spectate.

There’s no denying that watching players fire close to pins and make eagles and birdies is more enjoyable than watching them struggle for pars. I know the course will play tougher the rest of the week, but I hope the committe at Augusta National keep this in mind when setting up the course for the next few days, especially Sunday.

I followed Tiger Woods’ group for the first couple of holes but the inevitable crowds made it tricky to see every shot so I headed to a fantastic spot I discovered during the practice rounds.

The grandstand to the left of the 15th green is fantastic as you get to see players firing over the water at the par 5 in two and hopefully making eagles, as well as the whole of the par 3 16th hole.

I arrived at the stand just before Ross Fisher’s group arrived and spent over an hour watching the early starters come through. Birdies were common and the roar when I saw an eagle putt drop for the first time is something I’ll never forget.

It’s fantastic to see such a cosmopolitan leaderboard, in particular the Europeans up there. It’s also great to see Sergio Garcia playing well and smiling on a golf course again.

Alvaro Quiros played some sublime golf today and I really hope that he can keep the errors he’s prone to off his card this week and challege for the title as that would make it an extremely entertaining tournament.

I can’t wait to see what unfolds on Friday…

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