AUGUSTA, Ga. — Mason Howell hit the first shot of his Masters career from the No. 1 tee box at Augusta National. He whacked his second shot from the ninth fairway. Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.

“I was on the first tee and couldn’t feel my arms,” Howell said.

The 18-year-old who’s still a senior at the Brookwood School in Thomasville, Ga. (about five hours from Augusta), shot a 5-over 77 during the first round of the 2026 Masters tournament. It was the third-lowest score among the six amateurs Thursday, behind Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang (2-over) and Tennessee’s Jackson Herrington (4-over).

Howell’s standing is remarkable considering, one, he’s the youngest player in the field and, two, he couldn’t have started worse.

Three minutes into the first round of his first Masters and Howell was having to duck under rope lines and strut through the pine straw among the patrons. His ball was a good 50 yards into the ninth fairway, a shot so offline that it actually gave him a solid angle into the first green. He pounded a wedge that landed on the front of the green.

Phew.

As he again walked through the pine straw, he spotted some family friends from Savannah — a father and son who wore this wry smile. Howell started laughing.

“Hey, man,” he said. “I was nervous.”

If he wasn’t nervous, he’d be an alien devoid of all human emotion. Before his first drive Thursday, as thousands gathered around the No. 1 tee box, Howell’s childhood met his reality in one of those full-circle moments that never happen at age 18.

During the 2016 Tour Championship, Rory McIlroy threw a 9-year-old Howell his golf ball. He’s been keeping it in his bedroom until this week.

As tradition goes, the reigning Masters champion and the reigning U.S. Am winner are grouped together for the first and second rounds. So before heading to Augusta, Howell packed that ball in his golf bag, readying the nostalgia bomb for McIlroy. On the first tee — when players make it known what ball their playing — Howell took out the ball from 2016 and showed it to McIlroy.

McIlroy laughed, even asking for a second peek at his old golf ball. Then he gave the 18-year-old a pat on the back and readied to begin his round.

“Rory is awesome,” Howell said after his round. “We had a great walk today. ... I definitely could learn a lot from how he played today. When he was in trouble he took his medicine and then, you know, by that he was able to go up there and make a lot of putts.”

And, boy, making putts sure sounds easy and simple until you’re putting on the mountain ranges that are the Augusta National greens. Howell learned that the hard way.

After parring his first three holes — including, impressively, on No. 1 — the Georgia Bulldogs commitment had a long birdie putt. He blasted it post the hole. Then he rocketed his five-foot par putt to the other side of the cup. His four-foot bogey putt? That went past the hole, too. He hit five shots on the fourth hole Thursday. Four were putts.

“I really didn’t feel like I missed my line on any of the putts,” Howell said. “(I) ping-ponged it a little bit. I know I’m a good putter so just tried to keep believing that. Was able to roll a couple nice ones in on the back nine.”

Indeed, he did.

On a day when it seemed every gallery around the McIlroy, Howell, Cameron Young group was filled sentences from patrons along the line of: “Hey, that kid is 18,” and “Yeah, he’s still in high school,” and, “He’s just happy to be here,” Howell fought back.

After getting punched by Amen Corner (double-bogey on the 12th and a bogey on No. 13), Howell rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt on No. 15 and a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16. At 5-over, Howell at least gave himself a chance to make the cut and, potentially, still be the low amateur this week.

As the saying goes, it’s not how you start.

2026 MASTERS AMATEUR SCORES

— Ethan Fang: 2-over

— Jackson Herrington: 4-over

— Mason Howell: 5-over

— Fifa Laopakdee: 8-over

— Brandon Holtz: 9-over

— Mateo Pulcini: 9-over

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