Masters: Reed Leads Early
The Masters got going with Patrick Reed showing early form atop the Round 1 leaderboard while Fred Couples surprised with a strong opening display — both storylines gave Thursday a bit of shock and nostalgia. Those performances followed a week where excitement was already high after a Par 3 Contest that produced four holes‑in‑one, the kind of viral moment that amplifies opening‑week intrigue. (nytimes.com) (youtube.com)
Patrick Reed turned the first day of the 2026 Masters into a reminder that Augusta National can revive old scripts fast: the 2018 champion jumped into the early lead on Thursday, and one report noted he made two eagles within his first eight holes. (nytimes.com) (usatoday.com) Fred Couples gave the morning a second jolt by opening with a strong round at age 66, nearly two decades after most players stop being real factors at major championships. The PGA Tour called him “ageless again at Masters” after he shot 1-under on Thursday. (nytimes.com) (pgatour.com) That combination is why the leaderboard felt strange in the best way. Reed already owns a green jacket from 2018, and Couples won his in 1992, so Augusta spent Thursday being pushed around by two champions from very different golf eras. (pga.com) (pgatour.com) The Masters is built for this kind of time warp because Augusta National keeps former champions in the field for life. That is how a 66-year-old Couples can still tee it up in his 41st Masters and end up sharing space with players young enough to have watched his highlights on YouTube. (golfweek.usatoday.com) (ajc.com) Couples has done more than just show up lately. In 2023, he became the oldest player ever to make the Masters cut at 63 years, six months and five days, which is why any red number next to his name still hits like a small piece of golf folklore coming back to life. (wikipedia.org) (golfweek.usatoday.com) Reed’s side of the story is different. He is not nostalgia; he is proof that Augusta can reward a player who already knows where the misses are, where the bounces feed, and how quickly one hot stretch can change a round. (usatoday.com) (pga.com) The week already had that loose, anything-can-happen energy before the tournament even started. Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest produced four holes-in-one, with aces from Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark, Keegan Bradley, and Tommy Fleetwood, while Aaron Rai won the nine-hole event at 6-under. (youtube.com) (golfweek.usatoday.com) That contest is basically Masters week’s front porch: kids caddie, veterans laugh, and the course is short enough that one swing can turn into a clip everyone sees by dinner. In 2026, the usual warmup atmosphere got louder because four aces in one afternoon is not normal, even by Par 3 Contest standards. (sports.yahoo.com) (youtube.com) So Thursday arrived with the tournament still feeling playful, and then Reed and Couples gave it a leaderboard that looked half current form and half museum exhibit. With defending champion Rory McIlroy back, and favorites like Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm in the field, the first round still found room for two older Masters storylines to grab the spotlight. (nytimes.com) (espn.com)
