Scott rues sloppy sand finish

Adam Scott visited the beach three times in the last three holes in his opening round at the Masters, leaving the 2013 champion frustrated with an even-par opening.

Scott looked set to get a reasonable score out of a scratchy performance but bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes meant he walked off the last knowing he will be at least five off the pace.

The world No.6 hit the bunker off the tee on the par three 16th and couldn’t get up and down for par.

He then made a mess of the 18th by driving into one fairway bunker and then catching the lip with his second shot, leaving his ball only advanced 20 metres into the next fairway bunker.

At the end of the day it added up to a 72 in near perfect scoring conditions, leaving him five behind early leaders Justin Rose and Charley Hoffman who put up 67’s.

“Sloppy finish with bogey on 18. Unfortunately, couldn’t scramble there,” Scott said.

“It’s just a little disappointing because, to walk off with two under, I would be pretty pleased with that with not playing my best, not playing my worst.”

“But it would have been nice to have taken advantage of it today.

“I didn’t give myself a lot of chances until the back nine. I thought I had a few chances there but to not birdie 15, it just turned things to finish the wrong way.”

While disappointed, Scott was far from waving the white flag at this early stage, knowing things always get tougher on the weekend at the Masters.

“I’ve got three days to chip away at the leaders,” he said.

“It would be great to go out and have a nice round and do it in one day and be right there but, as long as I put in a solid day tomorrow, I’ll be in good shape for the weekend. It all changes on the weekend.”

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