No record, but Campbell grabs Masters lead with a 65
Published 4:01 pm Thursday, April 9, 2009
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Chad Campbell challenged the Masters scoring record before settling for a 7-under-par 65, claiming the first-round lead on a day for going low at Augusta National.
Campbell started Thursday’s round with five straight birdies, then ripped off four in a row on the back side to get his score to 9 under.
He went to the final two holes needing one more birdie to break the tournament record: a 63 by Nick Price in 1986 and equaled by Greg Norman a decade later. But the American bogeyed the last two holes, failing to get up and down from a bunker at No. 17 and three-putting from 50 feet at 18.
Still, he had a one-shot lead in the clubhouse over Jim Furyk, with Tiger Woods far back. The world’s No. 1 player failed to take advantage of prime scoring conditions, though he was 1 under after a birdie at the par-5 13th.
