US Masters / Steven Rawlings / 08 April 2009 / Leave a Comment

Fast starter or course specialist? Steve Rawlings examines the likely contenders to end day one top of the pile.

Twelve months ago Trevor Immelman led or shared the lead from wire-to-wire and became the first man since Ben Crenshaw in 1984 to hold the first round lead and win. He's only the 15th golfer in the tournament's history to accomplish the feat.

Given that Augusta is not a catch-up course I find it slightly surprising that less than 15% of first round leaders have gone on to win, so last year's result will give whoever sits atop of the field on Friday morning some heart. But who's that going to be?

Jeev Milkha Singh ([40.0]), Graeme McDowell ([100.0]) and KJ Choi ([70.0])are all renowned fast starters and might be worth a play but they've all been given afternoon tee times, which tempers my enthusiasm somewhat.

I certainly wouldn't advocate backing Tiger ([11.0]); despite his excellent record at Augusta he has never broken 70 in round one.

Whatever you decide to do you simply must include Justin Rose in your plans. If that Tiger stat is odd, the fact that Rose has finished day one in front three times in the last five years is verging on bizarre. The morning tee time is an added bonus and he looks to be a fair price at [40.0].

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