Closing holes spoil Jason Day's smooth start

Jason Day was coasting Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club. That all changed with four holes to play.

Day – the world’s No. 1 golfer – bogeyed No. 15, then turned his brief slide into disaster with a triple bogey at the par-3 16th.

“If you get yourself out of position, it’s tough to salvage par,” Day said. “Starting on 15 I got myself out of position pretty good, and 16 is a difficult hole today. You don’t want to miss right, so I tried to be a little bit more aggressive. … I had a pretty good swing but pulled it a little and went in the water.”

The Australian began Thursday’s round flawless, posting 31 on the first nine with an eagle on No. 2 and birdies on Nos. 5, 8 and 9. His momentum was slowed with a bogey at No. 10. He rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 13th but dropped a shot on No. 15. Then came the 16th. Throw in a bogey at No. 17, and Day closed with 41 on the back nine for even-par 72.

“I played four bad holes mixed in with some really good golf,” Day said. “If I went 41 on the front side and 31 on the back, then I’d be celebrating. I just have to slowly inch my way back up.”

With 54 holes remaining, Day isn’t discouraged by his play. He tees off at 9:59 this morning, six shots behind first-round leader Jordan Spieth.

“I felt like I played great,” Day said. “I’m not too frustrated with how everything went. It’s not how I planned for it to be, but I played some very good golf.”

Day played with Ernie Els, who shot 80 after carding 9 on the par-4 first hole. Els six-putted from less than five feet.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Day said. “I feel for Ernie. We’re pretty good mates and I didn’t realize he was fighting stuff like that upstairs with the putter. It’s painful for players to go through that.”