First round Thursday, April 7, 2022 Im Sung-jae became the first Korean player to hold the lead after a round at the Masters following a five-under-par 67. Im birdied his first three holes and was four-under after seven holes before consecutive bogeys on holes 10 and 11. At the par-5 13th, Im hit his approach shot to 12 feet and made the putt for eagle before also birdieing the par-5 15th to take sole possession of the lead.
Cameron Smith, who finished tied for second with Im in
2020, opened with a double-bogey at the first hole. Beginning with a chip-in for birdie at the fifth, however, Smith went eight-under-par over a span of 14 holes. At the par-3 16th, Smith hit his tee shot to five feet and made the putt to get to six-under for the round before another double-bogey on the 18th dropped him back to four-under and a round of 68.
Scottie Scheffler, playing his first tournament as World No. 1, did not make a bogey until the 18th hole in a 3-under-par round of 69. He was in a group tied for third place that also included past champions
Dustin Johnson and
Danny Willett, as well as
Joaquín Niemann, who holed out for an eagle on the par-4 ninth hole.
Harold Varner III, in his Masters debut, went four-under-par in a 4-hole stretch from the 13th to the 16th hole, including a near albatross from the pine straw at the 13th. He finished with a one-under-par 71.
Tiger Woods was playing in his first tournament since the
2020 Masters and opened with a one-under-par 71, tied for 10th place after 18 holes. Defending champion
Hideki Matsuyama shot an even-par 72. Overnight rain meant that the start was delayed by 30 minutes, with the first players teeing off at 8:30 a.m. local time.
Tiger Woods shot a 74, and had an aggregate score of 145, one-over-par, tying him for 19th place nine strokes behind the leader.
Stewart Cink made a hole-in-one at the par-3 16th hole. 52 players made the cut of 148, 4-over-par. None of the six amateurs made the cut. Other notable players to miss the cut include
2015 Masters champion
Jordan Spieth,
2019 Masters runner-ups
Brooks Koepka and
Xander Schauffele, and
2020 U.S. Open champion
Bryson DeChambeau. With his lead now cut to just three shots, Scheffler played his approach on the 17th to five feet and made the birdie to get back to 10-under. At the 18th, he was forced to take a drop from underneath a tree after a drive well to the left, but was able to hit his third shot from the pine straw over the green and salvage a bogey to finish at nine-under following a round of 71.
Cameron Smith began the round six shots behind but went five-under from the sixth to 15th holes. Despite a bogey at the par-3 16th after failing to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker, Smith shot a four-under 68, the best round of the day by two shots, to finish at six-under, three behind Scheffler. First-round leader
Im Sung-jae double-bogeyed his first hole and was four-over through six holes, but played the remainder of his round in five-under to finish with a 71 and jump up to solo third place at four-under.
2011 champion
Charl Schwartzel, playing in the final group with Scheffler, holed out from the fairway on the 10th for an eagle to get within three of the lead but made four bogeys over his final eight holes to drop back to two-under, tied for fourth with
Shane Lowry. Five-time champion
Tiger Woods had four three-putts and a four-putt, his first in this tournament since 2005, in a six-over round of 78, the worst score of his career at the Masters. Scheffler began the final round with a three-shot lead but saw his advantage cut to one after
Cameron Smith birdied his first two holes. Both players missed their drives left on the par-4 third hole and came up short on their second shots. Scheffler, playing first, hit a low shot that rolled into the hole for a birdie. Smith chipped past the hole and missed his par putt to fall back to three behind. Smith also bogeyed the par-3 fourth from the front greenside bunker. They both birdied the seventh after close approaches and Scheffler made the turn with a four-shot lead at 11-under. On the 10th, Smith hooked his drive well left and was forced to pitch back out into the fairway, then missed a close putt for par. Scheffler, meanwhile, was in the middle of the fairway off the tee but hit his approach off the green to the left and failed to get up-and down. When Smith birdied the 11th hole by making a 15-foot putt, only the second birdie on the hole during the round, he cut the deficit to three heading to the 12th. Smith's approach on the par-3 12th came up short and landed in Rae's Creek. Taking a drop and now playing his third shot, he hit over the green and ended up with a triple-bogey to fall out of contention. Scheffler also missed the green with his tee shot but was able to scramble and save par. After laying up on the par-5 13th and making par, Scheffler knocked his approach on 14 to five feet and made another birdie to get to 11-under. He also got up-and-down from over the green on the par-5 15th to increase his lead to five.
Rory McIlroy began the round 10 shots behind Scheffler before making four birdies on his front-nine. He then chipped in for birdie from over the green on the 10th, eagled the par-5 13th, and holed a shot from a greenside bunker on the 18th to shoot 64 (−8), tying a Masters record for the lowest final-round score. He finished at seven-under and moved up to solo second place, his best finish at the Masters. McIlroy shot the only bogey-free round of any player during the tournament in his final round. With a five-shot lead playing 18th, Scheffler missed a birdie putt from the top shelf of the green, then missed two short putts and tapped in for double-bogey to finish at 10-under, three ahead of McIlroy. Smith recovered from another bogey on the 14th with two straight birdies on the 15th and 16th to finish at five-under and in a tie for third with
Shane Lowry.
Final leaderboard Scorecard Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par : : ==Aftermath==