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Augusta National was in a forgiving mood on Thursday.
Mother Nature isn’t expected to be as kind the next two days, threatening to wreak havoc on the Masters second and third rounds after a warm and windless day on Thursday led to a litany of scores in red numbers.
Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka took advantage of the calm conditions with 7-under 65s to seize the early lead before the weather’s impending unwelcome arrival.
Cameron Young, who flamed out with a pair of 77s and a missed cut at last year’s Masters, his first, is right behind those three after a 5-under 67 alongside the resurgent Aussie Jason Day.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Australia’s Adam Scott and Americans Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland, Sam Burns, U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett and defending-champion Scottie Scheffler all stand at 4-under after shooting 68s.
Tiger Woods struggled to a 2-over 74.
No one took better advantage of the friendly conditions than Hovland early on as he carded an eagle on the par-5 second hole and powered on from there.
“It was very fun today,’’ Hovland said. “I got off to a nice start, obviously making eagle on No. 2 and just kept hitting great shots on the front nine and made some putts, and before I knew it, somehow I was 6-under through 11 [and] just kind of coast in to 65. So that was awesome.’’
Hovland, Rahm, Koepka and others got while the getting was good with the Friday forecast calling for a nearly 100 percent chance of rain with thunderstorms expected and Saturday 100 percent chance of rain with more than an inch of precipitation and a high of 50 degrees — more than 30 degrees colder than the temperatures the past two days.
