AUGUSTA – Joaquin Niemann couldn’t keep the secret entirely to himself.
He had to tell someone. Luckily the secret was safe.
Niemann was informed in February that he would be getting a special invitation to play in the Masters. He was asked to keep a lid on the exciting news as it would be officially announced the following day.
“It was a hard secret,” Niemann said Thursday after shooting an opening-round 2-under 70. “Yeah, I told a few people, but like luckily they didn’t say anything.”
Niemann, who plays LIV Golf, was not qualified for the Masters despite his attempts at playing in many world-wide events to up his world ranking and earn a spot. He didn’t quite get there when the got the call that he would be joining Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune.
“Super honored to get an invitation from the Masters,” Niemann said. “I mean, it was something that I was kind of fighting for and going out and playing all over the world to try to get -- I mean, more than invitation, I was trying to earn my way into the world ranking.
“But, yeah, unfortunately I didn’t make it and had good news starting my season on leave. They called me about an invitation, so I was really excited about it.”
Niemann was playing in Oman in the International Series when he got the call on a Tuesday.
“The Masters Tournament has a long-standing tradition of inviting leading international players who are not otherwise qualified,” chairman of Augusta National Golf Club Fred Ridley said in a statement at the time of the announcement. “Today’s announcement represents the tournament’s continued commitment towards developing interest in the game of golf across the world. We look forward to welcoming each player to Augusta National this spring.”
Niemann, 25, appears in his fifth Masters, where he has made the cut in three of his first four tournaments, including a career-best T-16 in 2023. He has top-five finishes in each of his three DP World Tour starts this season, including winning the Australian Open in a playoff in December.
First round play suspended
First-round play was suspended at 7:51 p.m. due to darkness after the tournament started with a 2-1/2 hour weather delay. Those golfers who did not finish, will resume on Friday at 7:50 a.m. There were 10 groups - 30 players - who did not complete the first round.
The second round will begin at 8 a.m.
ESPN’s live coverage will resume at 8 a.m. and continue through the completion of the first round. Second-round live coverage will remain as scheduled from 3-7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The following Featured Groups will resume coverage at 8 a.m. through the completion of their rounds:
-- Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Max Homa
-- Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood
Another vote for the career Slam for McIlroy
It has been well documented that Rory McIlroy is making his 10th attempt to win the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam.
Earlier this week, as he did last year, Tiger Woods stated he believes McIlroy will eventually get the coveted title.
Jack Nicklaus joined that chorus on Thursday. However, he noted that two legends of the game – Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson – both came up short in achieving the career slam. Both failed to win the PGA Championship.
“Tom Watson good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely,” Nicklaus said. “Was Arnold Palmer good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely. Rory McIlroy good enough to win the Grand Slam, absolutely, but they have got to do it, and they all know that, and do I think Rory will win here? Yeah. He could win this year. He could win next year. He’s just too talented not to. But then again, they were too talented not to win those, too. You just never know.”
Tiger tidbit
Woods got his delayed first round off to a great start with a birdie at No. 1.
It was noted by Augusta National that it was only the second time in his Masters career that the five-time champion birdied the opening hole.
That’s Augusta National for you
Will Zalatoris had a strong opening round going. He was 4-under par when he came to the 17th.
Two bogeys later, he was still pleased with an opening round of 2-under 70 in strong wind conditions.
“That’s the thing about this place, is that you get so much wind, so much swirling,” Zalatoris said. “I hit 10 great golf shots on the last two holes coming in. That’s just part of what it is around this place. It’s playing brutal but it’s a lot of fun right now. The course was very fair. Even with everything that we’ve gone through.”
Rare eagle at No. 17
Patrick Cantlay salvaged his round and made a little history on Thursday.
Cantlay was marking time at 1-over par when he holed a 146-yard pitching wedge for an eagle on No. 17, only the fourth there in tournament history. He followed with a par on 18 and signed for a 1-under 71.
“I was having a pretty mediocre day up until that point,” he said. “Just a perfect pitching wedge, rode the win and fortunately went right in.”
The most recent eagle there was by Davis Love III in 1998. The others came from Tommy Nakajima in 1989 and Takaaki Kono in 1969.
-Stan Awtrey and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.
About the Author
