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Augusta, Ga. >> Rickie Fowler was the first Masters favorite to stagger off the battlefield on Thursday.

He began the tournament with a double-bogey on the first hole, shot eight-over-par 44 on the back nine with an 8 on No. 13, and wound up with 80.

"It's golf," he said, shrugging. "A crazy four-letter word. It's a tough game. It's a fine line out here, especially on days like this. The wind would kick up at times, it would lay down at times. You gotta judge it, time it right.'

On 13 Fowler put his third shot into Rae's Creek and missed a 2-footer for double-bogey. He also rinsed his tee shot on the par-3 16th and missed an 8-footer for bogey.

One way or another

Esteban Toledo, 53, never played in the Masters. In 2000 he lost the B.C. Open by a stroke to Brad Faxon when his birdie putt on the 72nd hole veered away. He was second to Tiger Woods at the 2002 Buick Open.

"I had some tears in my eyes that day," Toledo said. "My dream was to get to Augusta."

Toledo then joined the Champions Tour, where he has won four times. But he didn't give up on Augusta. He asked Sandy Lyle, the 1988 champ, if he could carry his bag at Augusta last year. Lyle took him up on it this year and shot 76 Thursday with Toledo caddying.

"I felt like a player out there today," Toledo said. "Sandy played well, but the greens are so hard. It was a little shocking to see where the pins are."

Toledo last caddied for Gary Hallberg at the Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach. He was 49 at the time and wanted to get a close look at the Champions Tour before he joined it.

Wonder boy

U.S. Amateur and NCAA champ Bryson DeChambeau played with Jordan Spieth and Paul Casey and shot even-par 72. DeChambeau, whose irons are all the same length, drew praise from both.

"He hit the ball a lot better than I did," said Spieth, who shot 66. "My pace was a little better on some first putts, but for him to do that in his first time on a day like this? Watch out for him."

Casey said he tried to engage the SMU physics major in some science talk, "like what kind of thrust you'd have to have to leave the moon's atmosphere, but it was way over my head."

Numbers game

Shane Lowry, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose led the field by hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation. ... Spieth, Angel Cabrera and Chris Wood had the fewest putts (25). ... There were only three birdies on the 11th hole. ... The stroke average of 74.090 was the highest since the first round in 2014.