Justin Rose is a world class player, but leading into the Masters he was on nobody’s radar. Yet, the Englishman, who had odds of 100-1, and is ranked No. 41, holds a four-shot lead after day one at Augusta National.
World No. 50 Brian Harman, who was also offered at 100-1, is tied for second-place with No. 25 Hideki Matsuyama (50-1).
As for the top-ranked names, and betting favorites: let’s just say, collectively, they had stunningly poor starts to the 2021 Masters.
How stunning? And how poor?
Patrick Reed (-2), Webb Simpson (-2), and Tyrrell Hatton (-1) were the only three in the red (and barely) among the Official World Golf Rankings’ top 20 players.
In fact the top-six ranked players – Dustin Johnson (+2), Justin Thomas (+1), Jon Rahm (E), Collin Morikawa (+1), Bryson DeChambeau (+4), and Xander Schauffele (E), respectively – combined to shoot 8-over par with not a single scorecard in the red.
Further extrapolating: the five biggest marquee names among the top-20 list, without question, are Johnson (+2), Thomas (+1), DeChambeau (+4), Brooks Koepka (+2) and Rory McIlroy (+4). These five superstars combined for 13-over par, with not a single scorecard even at level-par.
One final mind-blowing nugget: Thomas, McIlroy, DeChambeau, and Patrick Cantlay are four of the top-ranked birdie makers on the PGA Tour (Birdies Per Round). On Thursday, they combined for six birdies total. Thomas, the Tour’s No. 1 birdie scorer, averages nearly six himself, each and every round.
Here’s a look at how the top-20 ranked players fared on a brutal day one of the 2021 Masters.
2021 Masters Leaderboard
Top-20 World Ranked Players
World Rank-Player-(Score-Pos)
1. Dustin Johnson +2 (T30)
2. Justin Thomas +1 (T20)
3. Jon Rahm E (T13)
4. Collin Morikawa +1 (T20)
5. Bryson DeChambeau +4 (T60)
6. Xander Schauffele E (T13)
7. Patrick Reed -2 (T4)
8. Tyrrell Hatton -1 (T8)
9. Webb Simpson -2 (T4)
10. Patrick Cantlay +7 (T80)
11. Brooks Koepka +2 (T30)
12. Rory McIlroy +4 (T60)
13. Tony Finau +2 (T30)
14. Viktor Hovland +1 (T20)
15. Daniel Berger +3 (T52)
16. Matthew Fitzpatrick +2 (T30)
17. Billy Horschel +4 (T60)
18. Paul Casey +1 (T20)
19. Sungjae Im +5 (T72)
20. Lee Westwood +6 (T75)
