Wolverhampton golfer briefly tops Masters leaderboard
Wolverhampton’s Aaron Rai saw his name briefly top the leaderboard on day one of The Masters.
The 30-year-old showed no signs of nerves on his Augusta debut as a superb start saw him roll in birdies at the second, third, seventh and eighth holes to move to four under and into the outright lead.
But after a par at the ninth, Rai suffered a difficult start to the back nine as three straight bogeys around Amen Corner threatened to ruin his opening round.
An up and down finish to the day then saw Rai, whose best result in a major is tied 19th at both the 2021 Open at St George’s and the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst, birdie the 15th before dropping a shot at the 16th after finding a bunker off the tee.
But then he hit back in style as he chipped in from just off the green for a birdie on 17 before a par at the last saw him finish with a two under par 70.
