Reporting from Augusta, Ga. — The biggest shot on the first day of the Masters might have been the one that was never taken.
The most memorable shot — take your pick, there were plenty of them — was by a 40-year-old journeyman from San Diego who seemed to be playing a different game on a different course.
Charley Hoffman was meandering through the early part of Thursday’s first round at Augusta National Golf Club when the world’s No. 1 player, Dustin Johnson, was awarded a “did not start” designation after failing to recover from a freak fall Wednesday.
But something happened when Hoffman approached the par-three sixth hole at one over par. He birdied from 19 feet. In fact, he birdied all four par threes, a sharp contrast to his nine over on those holes in his previous three appearances.
“For lack of any better words, it was a dream,” Hoffman said. “I mean, you hit the shots that you’re sort of looking at, and then the hardest part is to convert the putts. I was able to do that and I got some good numbers coming down the stretch.”
Hoffman followed the sixth hole with birdies on eight (nine-foot putt), nine (nine foot), 12 (11 foot), 14 (22 foot), 15 (24 foot), 16 (two foot) and 17 (four foot).
Hoffman is known as a good wind player, even though he’s quick to point out he’s had his problems there.
“I’ve had success in the wind, which is nice,” Hoffman said. “San Antonio [last year], Bob Hope [in 2007] , it was blowing a ton that final round. I’ve played well but I’ve also played horrible in the wind. I’ve had no success at the British Open. You’d think if I was a great wind player, I’d have some success over there and I haven’t had any.”
Hoffman has been on the Tour since 2006, having won four tournaments. He qualified for the Masters by winning last year’s Valero Texas Open.
He has four-shot lead over William McGirt, who at 37 is playing the Masters for the first time. McGirt won at Memorial last year to qualify.
McGirt and Hoffman were the only players to break 70, and Hoffman’s first-round margin was the largest since 1955.
Lee Westwood was at two under . There are eight players at one under, including Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.
Gusts approaching 40 mph confounded golfers and completely eliminated those who like to hit it high. Fans were bundled up with their caps pulled low to keep them from blowing away.
McGirt was the leader among those who were playing mortal golf and had to take the wind into consideration.
“I was not upset to see it blowing,” McGirt said. “I love it when it plays tough. I’m not the kind of person that’s going to get in a shootout with anybody. If it’s going to be 20-, 22-under par, then I’m playing for about 15th.”
The average score on Thursday was 74.978, about 10 strokes higher than Hoffman. There were three eagles, 223 birdies, 407 bogeys and 10 scores you don’t want to talk about, most notably a quadruple-bogey nine by Jordan Spieth on No. 15.
The field appeared to be as wide open as a West Texas highway after Johnson pulled out of the tournament about 2 p.m. local time.
Johnson was still hoping he could play when he showed up about an hour before his tee time and went through his warmup regimen, looking mildly uncomfortable after hitting each ball.
He walked to the putting green near the first tee, took a few practice swings, turned around and headed back to the clubhouse, his Masters over.
Johnson hurt his lower back Wednesday at the house he was renting. It was raining and Johnson went to move the car in anticipation of his son, Tatum, coming home from day care.
“I was just wearing my socks,” Johnson said. “So I just slipped going down the stairs. It actually would have been better if it had been the first set of stairs … but it was only three [stairs], so I landed right on the bottom.”
Johnson didn’t sleep most of the night, alternating heat and ice on his lower back. He wouldn’t know how the injury would affect him until he got to the range.
“As I was making some swings on the range, it was about 80% [but the back was] so tight, I couldn’t make a good backswing. And every time right at impact it would just catch. … It hurts.”
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Sergio Garcia of Spain celebrates after winning the Masters golf tournament in a playoff on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia is greeted by fiancee Angela Akins after winning the Masters in a playoff.
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Justin Rose, left, congratulates Sergio Garcia on the 18th green after Garcia won the Masters on the first playoff hole.
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Danny Willett, left, the 2016 Masters champion, congratulates Sergio Garciaduring the green jacket ceremony at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia get help putting on the Masters champion’s green jacket by 2016 winner Danny Willett.
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Sergio Garcia admires the winner’s trophy during the awards ceremony following his victory at the Masters.
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Sergio Garcia reacts after making an eagle putt in front of Justin Rose at No. 15e during the final round of the Master.
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Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia walk over the Hogan Bridge at No. 12 with their caddies Mark Fulcher and Glen Murray during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose of England reacts to a putt for birdie on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters.
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Rickie Fowler reacts after a drive on the fourth hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Sergio Garcia of Spain hits a drive on the fourth hole during the final round of the Masters.
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Justin Rose of England plays his shot from the third tee during the final round of the Masters.
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Paul Casey of England plays his second shot on the first hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Jordan Spieth plays his third shot from a bunker at No. 10 during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Adam Scott of Australia hits his tee shot at No. 4 during the final round of the Masters.
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Jimmy Walker reacts to his missed birdie putt on the sixth hole during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Sergio Garcia hits from a bunker alongside the seventh green during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lets go of his club on the follow through of his tee shot at No. 4 during the final round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose hits his tee shot at No. 2 during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Rickie Fowler lines up his putt with caddie Joseph Skovron at No. 8 during the third round of the Masters tournament on Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Sergio Garcia celebrates after making a birdie putt at No. 6 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits his tee shot at No. 4 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Jon Rahm reacts after missing his birdie putt on the 17th hole during the third round of the Masters.
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Jordan Spieth hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Justin Rose makes his club selection at the second tee box during the third round of the 2017 Masters
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Sergio Garcia reacts to a missed putt at No. 12 during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Ryan Moore plays a shot from a greenside bunker at No. 10 during the third round of the Masters.
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Fred Couples olines up a putt on the 16th green during the third round of the Masters.
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Will McGirt watches his bunker shot roll toward the hole on the 17th green during the third round of the Masters.
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Sergio Garcia pitches a shot onto the 13th green during the third round of the Masters tournament.
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Jason Day on the second tee during the third round of the 2017 Masters tournament.
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Phil Mickelson plays his second shot from a bunker at the 12th hole during the third round of the Masters.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Jon Rahm of Spain walk over the Hogan Bridge at No. 12 at Augusta National Golf Club during the second round.
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Jason Day of Australia plays a shot from a greenside bunker at the 16th hole during the second round of the Masters.
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Matt Kuchar and caddie John Wood head toward the second green, where the flagstick is bowed by the wind, during the second round of the Masters.
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Fans get a close-up view of Charley Hoffman hitting an approach shot during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello looks at his ball in the pine straw at the 14th hole during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Si Woo Kim of South Korea plays his third shot at No. 15 during the second round of the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Fred Couples reacts to his birdie putt on the 13th hole during the second round of the Masters.
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Rickie Fowler plays his tee shot at No. 12 during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits a drive on the 18th hole during the first round for the Masters golf tournament.
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Will McGirt hits a drive on the eighth hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament.
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Charley Hoffman looks at his approach on the 15th hole during the first round for the Masters golf tournament .
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Justin Rose of England plays his second shot on the 17th hole during the second round of the Masters tournament.
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Charley Hoffman hits a tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Masters tournament on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club. Hoffman shot a 65 to take a four-shot lead.
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Pat Perez reacts after missing a putt at No. 16 during the first round of the Masters golf tournament on Thursday.
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Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Billy Payne, right, leads a moment of silence for Arnold Palmer at the start of the Masters Tournament on Thursday.
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Jason Day plays his shot from the third tee during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Dustin Johnson walks off after announcing his withdrawal during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Thomas Pieters of Belgium hits a shot through the trees at the 17th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Caddie Jamie Lane lines up a putt on the second green during the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
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Brendan Steele walks up the second fairway during the first round of the Masters golf tournament on Thursday.
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American Dustin Johnson walks out of the Augusta National clubhouse after withdrawing from the Masters golf tournament because of a back injury before his afternoon tee time Thursday.
(Tannen Maury / EPA) Johnson, not a doctor, thinks he’ll be OK in two days.
“It’s tough, I want to play,” Johnson said. “I look forward to this tournament every year. And to have a freak accident happen [Wednesday] afternoon after I got back from the course, it’s tough.”
The cut at the Masters is the low 50 scores, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Hoffman may have blown that out of the water. Most of the big names can recover to make the cut in the field of 93.
Hoffman will have a lot to think about before he returns to the course.
“Going to sleep on the lead at a major championship here at Augusta National is not going to be the easiest thing,” Hoffman said. “I look forward to it and I look forward to the challenge the next three days.”
Hoffman will be in one of the earlier groups Friday with a 10:01 a.m. EDT tee time. The wind is expected to still be blowing, the question is, will Hoffman be in the upper stratosphere or will he have come back to earth?
john.cherwa@latimes.com
@jcherwa
