The first time Tiger Woods played in the Masters as a professional, he was 4 over par on his first nine holes before reversing course and dominating the field the rest of the way.
Erica Shepherd hopes that her debut in that same city will follow a similar path.
The Center Grove senior opened her round Wednesday with four bogeys on the back nine, including both par-5s, before rallying on the front to finish with a 1-under-par 71 in the first round of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Shepherd heads into today’s second round at Champions Retreat in a tie for eighth place, three strokes behind leaders Zoe Campos and Jennifer Kupcho.
"The front nine was super shaky," she said. "I was way more nervous than I was expecting to be. I don’t think I’ve been that nervous since I played in the U.S. Open when I was 15, so I wasn’t really expecting that, but as soon as I calmed down and got comfortable, I made a lot of birdies and played a lot better."
The top 30 players will advance to Saturday’s final round, which will be the first competitive women’s round ever played at Augusta National.
Teeing off on the 10th hole Wednesday, Shepherd bogeyed the 11th, 13th and 14th holes to quickly go to 3 over. She recovered with a birdie on 15 but gave it back on the par-5 18th.
On the front side, Shepherd settled in. She birdied the first hole to get back to 2 over, then rallied her way into the red with three consecutive birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth.Â
