Dennis Paulson's maiden voyage in the Masters Tournament, as he called it, was quite a ride.
The 37-year-old Masters rookie was one of the few golfers in the 95-player field to handle a tricky wind at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, firing a 4-under-par 68 to grab the first-round lead.
Tom Lehman, playing three groups behind Paulson, was 5-under par for his round until he took a trip into the magnolias on the right side of the 18th fairway and emerged with a double bogey. Lehman, the runner-up in the 1994 Masters and the 1996 British Open champion, shot a 69.
Golfers at 70 are 20-year-old Sergio Garcia of Spain and Steve Stricker. Checking in at 71 were Rocco Mediate, Phil Mickelson, Steve Jones, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany.
Defending Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal opened with a 72.
Pre-tournament favorite Tiger Woods, the 1997 Masters champion, lost five shots to par on two holes (Nos. 10 and 12) and shot 75. He struggled on the greens, needing 33 putts.
Thanks to the wind and narrower fairways on some holes, the course yielded only nine sub-par rounds Thursday, compared with 19 in 1999. The scoring average for the field was 75.589. It was 74.513 in 1999's first round.
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Dennis Paulson gives a thumbs up to the TV tower after teeing off on the No. 12 hole Thursday. Paulson finished in the lead with at 4 under.Todd Bennett/Chronicle Staff
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``Maybe lack of knowledge is better, not knowing how hard this course can be when the wind is really blowing,'' Paulson said.
Even Paulson had one misstep. He made a double bogey on No. 11 when he visited the water. Other than that, the man from San Gabriel, Calif., had six birdies and 11 pars. He's the first Masters rookie to lead the tournament since Paul Stankowski in 1997.
``It's too early to worry about it,'' Paulson said of the prospect of joining Gene Sarazen and Fuzzy Zoeller as first-time players to win the Masters. ``Let's have sole possession of the lead Sunday on the back nine somewhere.''
A journeyman as a professional until a breakthrough year in 1999 when he won $1.3 million without a victory on the PGA Tour, Paulson is hardly a household name. He's been off to a slow start this year, earning $145,427 to rank 94th on the PGA Tour money list.
``People are going to say `who's he? He won't be around at the end of the Masters,'ƒ'' Paulson said. ``You just have to go out and try hard. You can always blame it on someone else, but in golf you can't. May the best man win and shake hands when it's all over.''
One thing Paulson is not lacking is confidence. It probably goes back to the fact he has played golf all over the world and won tournaments in the Philippines (1990) and the Nike Tour (1998).
``His biggest asset is he's very confident,'' Lehman said. ``He has a lot of belief in himself, which you need. You need to attack this course with a lot of assurance that you can get the job done. You're not going to do very well if you play scared, and Dennis is not that way. He knows what he's doing.''
The unpredictable wind, which checked in at 12-18 mph with gusts to 24 mph, tormented some of the world's best players. Twelve players didn't break 80, including Greg Norman (80), Raymond Floyd (80), Seve Ballesteros (81) and Fuzzy Zoeller (82).
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Paulson excited to shoot well on his first try
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Paulson just trying to have fun
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``It changed by the second,'' Mickelson said of the wind. ``Just slight gusts of wind can affect the shots greatly, and 5 to 10 yards is greatly.''
``On No. 4, we threw up grass, and it blew downwind right-to-right and then left-to-right three different times,'' Woods said. ``It was probably one of the more difficult days I've seen here, no doubt about it.''
For a golfer known for his long-driving (Paulson won the 1985 National Long Driving Contest), it was putting that carried him Thursday. Paulson had 27 putts.
``It wasn't a great round of golf; it was a good putting round of golf,'' Paulson said.
Paulson qualified for the Masters by finishing among the top 40 on the 1999 PGA Tour money list. Paulson was 27th, meaning he would realize his dream of playing in the Masters.
``It's awesome; this is what it's all about,'' said Paulson, who said he was teary-eyed after blistering his drive down the fairway on the first hole Thursday.
Paulson and Lehman finished their rounds in the mid-afternoon, leaving centerstage to a group for the ages. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, the famed ``Big Three'' from the 1960s, were just reaching the early part of the back nine when Paulson finished.
In the group that featured 13 Masters titles, the 60-year-old Nicklaus had 15 straight pars before finishing with a 74, the 64-year-old Player had 76 and the 70-year-old Palmer came away with 78.
``We didn't really play badly, we just didn't do anything very good,'' Palmer said. ``But it's a day I'll remember. I've played with these guys a lot, but I always like it.''
For fans of pre-tournament favorite Woods, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, it was a disappointing day.
Woods, whose 75 was his highest round by two shots this season, didn't see it that way.
``It's fine,'' Woods said of his score. ``It's not easy out there. Look at the scores. Look at how many guys aren't under par. It's a long tournament, and it's a long week. There are a lot of things that can happen out there.''
Earlier in the week, Woods spoke of how he just wanted to get himself into contention by Sunday's final round. When he won in 1997, Woods trailed by three shots after the first round.
``It's a long tournament,'' Woods said. ``It's not an 18-hole tournament. If it was I'd be in a lot of trouble.''
``I guess I am surprised (at Woods' 75) because typically his worst rounds he keeps right around par,'' Mickelson said.
When Woods won in 1997, he shot a fat 4-over-par 40 on his first nine holes.
``I still feel like he's the guy we're always watching to see if his name pops up on the board,'' Mickelson said.
Ninety-three players will start today after former champions Doug Ford and Billy Casper withdrew after shooting 84 and 94, respectively. Ford's round was one shot off the highest score ever posted in the tournament, by Charles Kunkle in the 1956 Masters.
Notables, nature fall to Paulson
