Ian Poulter described Thursday’s opening round of the Masters in five words.
“A very solid day’s work,” the Englishman said.
Poulter carded 68, including a 33 on his second nine, and will enter today’s round at Augusta National two shots behind leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
“It’s a great way to start a long week,” Poulter said. “My whole game was together from the first hole to the 18th.”
PHOTOS: Round 1 at Augusta National
Poulter credited his performance to his iron play, as he connected on 16 of 18 greens in regulation.
“I only missed two greens in regulation, and one of those two I was still putting from just (off the green),” Poulter said. “Today was extremely solid.”
This marks Poulter’s 14th Masters appearance, and Thursday's score matched his lowest opening round (2010). He’s only missed the cut once at Augusta National.
“Pre-round I discussed with (caddie Terry Mundy) certain pin positions where we could be relatively aggressive and some where we had to be sensible,” Poulter said. “I thought we did both very well. We were sensible on the tricky pins and aggressive on others. We played very steady golf.”
Poulter was part of an afternoon wave that saw the five lowest scores of the day come in the final six groupings. He’ll tee off at 9:58 a.m.
“Before we went out, 3-under par was about where the number was at,” Poulter said. “The course dried out nicely today and a couple of greens may have been a touch slower than what we’ve had in the past on a Thursday.”