Sandy Lyle on Masters club snap: It's taken 40 years and wasn't even over my knee

Less than ten minutes into his 42nd and final Masters appearance, Sandy Lyle was probably wishing he’d called it a day a year earlier at Augusta National. He’d only made it halfway up the opening hole, after all, yet had already crammed more drama into this round than the majority of the previous 116 circuits.

Sandy Lyle of Scotland talks with his caddie on his eventful first hole during the opening round of the 2023 Masters. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Out in the third group of the day after Honorary Starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson had done their thing at 7.40am, Lyle’s body action after hitting first in a group alongside LIV Golf duo Jason Kokrak and Talor Gooch suggested it wasn’t what the 1988 champion had been looking for to start of his swansong.

Right enough, he’d found tree trouble on the right and the golfing gods hadn’t been kind. His ball had finished under a low trunk and, unable to play it right-handed, he decided to give it a go left-handed and try to come out sideways.

In fairness, the 65-year-old made a good connection and it would have been mission accomplished if a TV cameraman hadn’t got in the way as it smacked him in the thigh area and came to rest close to the tree he was standing beside and obviously neither Lyle or his caddie had seen him there otherwise he’d definitely have been asked to move.

As Lyle emerged from the foliage looking a tad frazzled, it transpired that his club had snapped hitting that second shot and, though he ended up making a great 5, the eventful start set the tone for a frustrating day.

He was back in the bushes after pulling his tee shot at the short 12th, running up a double-bogey 5, and, with shots being frittered away for most of the round, he ended up signing for a nine-over-par 81.

“First hole and it wasn’t even over my knee,” said Lyle as he tried to laugh off his club snap. “I nearly always pull it off the first and this time the brain got in the way and I blocked it to the right. It’s the first one I've broken here. Taken 40 years to do it”.

He described his golf on the day as “very substandard” and is already resigned to making an early exit. “That is totally gone,” he said of hoping to sign off on a high by making the cut. “I've just got to try and maybe even shoot a 72 tomorrow and at least don't get in the way of the two people I'm playing with.”

There were shouts of “‘88” from people on the way round in recognition of that being the year he became the first British and Irish player to claim a Green Jacket. “Yeah, there's a lot of people obviously who have been around the same time when I won this,” he said. “The patrons here are very appreciative - it would be nice to play some better shots to show what I can do.”