By Rick Dorsey
Chronicle Staff

To summarize the Masters first round Thursday, Swede Per-Ulrik Johansson chose the one word his competitors had grooved into in unison.

``Slow,'' he said. ``Just very, very slow out there. Slow enough to watch the grass grow.''

A day of molasses rounds, along with a late afternoon 90-minute weather delay, left Johansson stranded on the Augusta National course, one of 12 players who failed to complete their first 18 holes.

Still, threesomes may have helped more of the field finish before darkness and made for a more stable second round. In twosomes last year, the final first-round pairing teed off at 4:12 p.m., because of morning rain. More players would have had to return this morning, and second-round pairings wouldn't have been known until first-round play was complete. In the old twosomes format, players were re-paired for the second round.

With 96 players, the Masters' fifth-largest field, tournament officials bucked tradition and installed threesomes for the first two rounds. And as the course's difficulty steadily increased, coupled with the pressures of golf's first major, the languid pace frustrated many players.

``You just can't let it aggravate you,'' said Olin Browne, who played early and shot a 2-over-par 74. ``Twosomes and re-pairing are two of the things that used to make this place unique, and now they've taken them away.''

The Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia-Tim Herron threesome started at 10:38 a.m. and didn't finish till Garcia tapped in his par putt at 3:29 p.m.

Before the delay, David Duval's group had played 14 holes in four hours. He was a bit upset when his group marked their balls on 18 as darkness fell.

The day's fastest trio proved to be the day's first, the oldest and the ones with the worst collective scores. Doug Ford, Gay Brewer and Billy Casper teed off at 8:15 a.m., and finished in four hours and five minutes despite posting a combined 38-over score.

Rarely did a member of this past champions group study the line of his putt like he was cramming for an SAT. At times, they looked to be trying to get out of everyone's way.

The day's second group, which went off 11 minutes after the Ford-Brewer-Casper group, finished 45 minutes after them.

``The old timers play threesomes, so we're used to it,'' said Ford, who made five pars and shot 88.

Some players, like Bill Glasson, believed the extra playing partner proved beneficial.

``I think the threesomes actually helped me to stay focused more,'' said Glasson, who shot even-par 72.

``When you're in twosomes, there is a tendency to try and play as fast as possible, especially when it's your turn. Being in threes gives you more time to think about what you're doing, to concentrate a little more on the next shot, to get in a nice pace and rhythm.''