AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Tony Finau’s last 24 hours included a little bit of everything: Pain. Embarrassment. Concern. Relief. Determination. Excitement.

The 28-year-old American with Samoan roots battled through a severely sprained ankle and shot a 4-under 68 in the opening round at the Masters. How he injured it was somewhat comical, albeit painful to watch. How he overcame it was downright extraordinary.

”You can’t make that up,” he said.

Article continues below …

It was one of the best – certainly most unpredictable – story lines of the tournament’s first day.

Finau dislocated his left ankle celebrating a hole-in-one during the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday and then popped it back into place. X-rays were negative. Finau had an early morning MRI on Thursday to determine whether he could make his Masters debut.

Doctors cleared him to play, and his ankle was tightly taped as he headed to the practice range. No pain-numbing shots or pills. Just pure grit.

”I was just extremely happy tha..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A look at the key hole Thursday in the first round of the Masters:

HOLE: 15.

YARDAGE: 530.

Article continues below …

PAR: 5.

STROKE AVERAGE: 4.644

RANK: 17.

KEY FACT: Nine players in the top 10 made birdies at the hole known as ”Firethorn,” but this is where Sergio Garcia’s hopes of a second straight green jacket ended on the very first day. He dumped five balls into the water and shot 13 – matching the highest score on a hole in Masters history. Garcia finished with a 9-over 81, the worst score ever for a defending champion.

—

For more AP golf coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Golf and https://apnews.com/tag/TheMasters

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A brief look Thursday at the opening round of the Masters:

LEADER: Jordan Spieth birdied five straight holes beginning at the 13th on the way to a 6-under 66.

CHASING: Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar are two strokes behind after shooting 68s, while the group at 69 includes Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson.

Article continues below …

TOUGH GUY: Finau turned in a dazzling round just 24 hours after dislocating his left ankle while celebrating a hole-in-one during the Par 3 Contest.

TOUGH HOLE: Defending champion Sergio Garcia shot himself out of tournament at the 15th hole, where he dumped five straight balls into the water. He finished with a 13, equaling the record for the highest score ever on a Masters hole.

TIGER WATCH: Tiger Woods returned to the Masters for the first time since 2015 and shot a 73, leading him seven shots off the lead.

GRAND SLAM: McIlroy posted his second-best score in the opening round in 10 Masters appearances. He opened with a 65 in 2011 but ..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) This time, Sergio Garcia offered no excuses.

Blame this one on the golf gods?

Not a chance. Even they couldn’t possibly be this cruel.

Article continues below …

One moment Garcia was fighting to get back to even par and in contention at the Masters. The next he was writing a double-digit number on his scorecard that effectively ended any chance he had of defending his Masters title.

Even for the mercurial Spaniard, this was uncharted territory.

”It’s the first time in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot,” Garcia said. ”Simple as that.”

Well, not exactly. If it were that simple, Garcia might have a lot more prized possessions in his display case than the green jacket he won in a memorable back nine charge last year that included an eagle on the par-5 15th hole.

He won’t get another this year after an implosion on the very same hole that someday might have its own special spot in Masters lore.

Unfortunately for Garcia, for all the wrong reasons..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The first standing ovation came on the practice range.

There was more applause when he strolled to the 18th green, though most of the patrons stayed in their fold-out seats.

Tiger Woods is back at the Masters.

Article continues below …

Just not in the position so many of his fans were hoping he would be.

Woods plodded through an unspectacular opening round on Thursday, settling for a 1-over 73 that left him far off the lead but still feeling good about his chances.

Considering the buildup that accompanied his first competitive round at Augusta National since 2015 , it might’ve seemed like a bit of a letdown.

Not to Woods.

”I could have easily let the round slip away from me, but I got it back,” he said, brimming with that bravado of old. ”And I’m right back in this tournament.”

When Woods stepped to the first tee on a sunny, brisk morning, the patrons finally heard the words they’ve missed out on at the last two Masters.

”Fore, please. Tiger Woods now driv..

Stephane Cardinale – CorbisConor McGregor is pissed. Sure, sure, he's a professional fighter. That's his default setting. But this is something else entirely. This weekend, Conor McGregor—who hasn't set foot in the octagon in almost a year and a half—will lose his UFC lightweight title to the winner of Max Holloway-Khabib Nurmagomedov bout, and he's taking that about as poorly as any adult human being possibly can.
On Thursday, following a UFC 223 press junket at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, McGregor and his goons stormed into the arena, cornered a bus carrying an array of UFC fighters, including Nurmagomedov, and began hurling all manner of iron objects at it. We could describe the whole thing for you, but honestly, you have to see it to fully believe it:
https://twitter.com/SandhuMMA/status/981954748491468803
https://twitter.com/jrsvx/status/981960460323848192
In the footage, you can see McGregor strike another individual—not fellow fighter Michael Chiesa, who als..

Jamie SquireJoe LaCava, caddie to Tiger Woods, is a long-suffering New York Rangers fan, so even he could appreciate the irony: the most prominent appearance his team will make this spring won’t be in a hockey game, but on a T-shirt LaCava wore in the first round of the 2018 Masters.
Did LaCava think about that when he got dressed Thursday morning?
“Nah, I just have a bunch of T-shirts and I like it because it keeps me cool ,” LaCava said while standing outside the Augusta National clubhouse.
“I don’t know why I wore it,” he cracked. “I should just give up on them.”
The Rangers will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010, but LaCava knows he couldn’t shake them if he tried. His connection to the team goes back to his roots in Newtown, Conn., when he had tickets in Madison Square Garden’s old blue seats. And on a day when Woods’ Masters return was the focal point of the sports world, even the Rangers’ Twitter account relished seeing their logo in the middle of it all.
https://t..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Latest on the crash of a tour bus that injured passengers heading to the Masters golf tournament (all times local):

7:20 p.m.

A passenger injured when a charter bus crashed on the way to the Masters golf tournament says he’s thankful ”everybody’s alive.”

Article continues below …

Doctors Hospital in Augusta released video Thursday evening of Kip Plowman describing the crash as he waited in the emergency room to have broken glass removed from his hand.

Plowman said the bus careened off the road and spun around one and a half times before skidding on its side a good distance. He said the bus was filling up with smoke as he climbed through a window above his head.

Plowman said he felt badly for other injured passengers as well as for Masters ticketholders stuck on Interstate 20 as it was shut down after the crash. He said: ”It’s not the way we planned the day.”

—

3:20 p.m.

A Georgia hospital says it’s treating nine passengers – including one in critical co..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The Latest on the crash of a tour bus that injured passengers heading to the Masters golf tournament (all times local):

3:20 p.m.

A Georgia hospital says it’s treating nine passengers – including one in critical condition – who were injured when a charter bus overturned on the way to the Masters golf tournament.

Article continues below …

Doctors Hospital in Augusta said in a statement Thursday that six of the nine passengers taken there were either in good condition or had been treated and released.

Sgt. Chris Wright of the Georgia State Patrol says 18 passengers were riding the bus from Atlanta to Augusta for the first round of the Masters when the bus overturned on Interstate 20. The driver, 61-year-old Steven F. Hoppenbrouwer, has been charged with driving under the influence.

Wright said none of the passengers suffered life-threatening injuries, though several had broken bones and head injuries.

—

1:45 p.m.

A Georgia state trooper says passengers riding..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) No other course makes him more comfortable. Even more familiar than a sharp short game was his name atop the leaderboard at the Masters.

Jordan Spieth appears to be back on his game.

Tiger Woods?

Article continues below …

He has some catching up to do.

Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine Thursday at Augusta National, including five straight birdies. The last one was from tap-in range after another superb pitch, from the left gallery to escape with bogey for a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau.

It was the eighth time in his last 13 rounds at the Masters that Spieth ended a round with the lead.

”I know as well as anybody that anything can happen at Augusta National,” Spieth said, a vague reference to the lead he lost on the back nine in 2016 that kept him from winning consecutive green jackets. ”It’s about riding momentum from last week and this round.”

Woods, the main attraction in his first time back to the Masters since 2..