I Followed The Same Group For All 18 Holes At The Masters And These Are 5 Things I Noticed

After Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson struck their honorary opening tee shots, it was the pairing of Johnny Keefer and Haotong Li who led the 91-man field off for The Masters on Thursday.

Heading out at 7.40am, their round concluded at 12.05pm and, in the 4 hours 25 minutes of action, I was able to watch every single shot the pair produced.

For Li, a gutsy one-under-par 71 was highlighted by an eagle at the 15th, while Keefer carded a two-over front nine and two-over back nine for a four-over-par 76.

Although both men were not at their best there is still a lot to learn from them and, having followed their every move for all 18 holes, here are five things I picked up on from the morning at Augusta National.

Distance Control

It's no secret that professionals know their distances to the nearest decimal point but, until you've seen them play in real life, you don't realize just how impressive it actually is.

Augusta National possesses plenty of undulations, making it difficult to gauge the correct yardage. Despite this, both Li and Keefer rarely missed the required distances, with there being only one or two occasions where either player was off.

Okay, it wasn't up to the levels we're used to seeing from World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, but there aren't many in the history of golf that have his ball striking capabilities.

To tucked pins, and on firm surfaces, the skill required was extremely impressive to watch, and something to learn for us amateurs.

No Signs Of Nerves

Striking the first tee shots of any tournament is nerve-wracking, let alone at The Masters following on from three golfing legends in Player, Nicklaus and Watson.

Despite this, neither Keefer or Li seemed fazed about the occasion, even though Keefer is a Masters rookie and Li hasn't played Augusta National since 2019.

Both men found the fairway at the first, while their approach shots hit the heart of the green. Obviously, there would have been some nerves, but it didn't appear so on the surface.

How Close To The Tee Markers?

Often, players will look to open up the angle on their tee shots as much as possible, with teeing position playing a key role in this.

During the round, an observation I made was how close both Li and Keefer were going to the tee markers to make this happen!

I know these are the best ball strikers on the planet, but all it needs is one slight heel, or toe, strike and the club is hitting the marker and, likely, breaking the clubhead.

Saying this, they're playing golf for money, while I'm here writing about it... but I still find it off-putting just how close some get to the tee markers.

Ability To Recover

Sometimes the par saves are more important than the birdies and, during stages of watching Li and Keefer's rounds, that's the impression I got as they grinded to stay at level-par.

Whether it was from up-and-downs, or crucial putts from previous poor attempts, both had moments where the shots could have got away from them but, instead, they produced great recoveries for par.

The phrase goes "you're only as good as your last shot," and that was certainly the case on Thursday, as both men showed how important the short game is for success.

If you put yourself in trouble off the tee, you can get yourself out of trouble via chipping and putting. That's the easiest ways to save shots on the course.

Course Management

I always find it interesting seeing how players tackle golf courses. On one hand you have Bryson DeChambeau, who overpowers them, while on the other hand you have Justin Rose, who meticulously plots his way round.

Course management comes down to a number of factors, such as where hazards like bunkers and water are placed; however, on Thursday, I found it interesting how both tackled the course.

On the first, for example, Li hit a driver while Keefer hit a mini driver. On the very next hole, both swapped game plans, with Li hitting a 3-wood and Keefer the big stick. This is despite the fact that both the first and second have a bunker around the same landing zone.

There's not one correct way of playing golf and, at Augusta National, it seems that every player in the field will have a different way of tackling the iconic layout.