Leishman hopes to end Aussie Masters jinx

Augusta, Georgia: Marc Leishman put himself into a share of the lead of the Masters with a six-under par 66 in Thursday’s opening round, giving him hopes of becoming Augusta National’s first Australian winner.

Leishman finished the first 18 holes sharing the lead with Spain’s Sergio Garcia, both of them one stroke in front of American Dustin Johnson.

After his successful start, the 29-year-old Aussie from Warrnambool was more concerned about playing with 15-month-old son Harvey than thinking about a champion’s green jacket that nobody will be wearing until Sunday anyway.

“It would be huge,” Leishman said. “But there’s a lot of golf left and a lot of hurdles to clear. If I can keep playing the way I’m playing, keep holing the crucial par putts and putting the way I have been, there’s no reason why not.

“That’s the goal — just got to try and execute it and see how we go.”

Leishman was smiling and happy as he finished his round but trying to contain his enthusiasm, knowing how much work is to come, and looking forward to getting away from the course and back to his family at a rented house.

“Definitely, I think it would be a different story if it was Sunday afternoon, but it’s only very early. I was trying to keep it down a little bit.

“This afternoon, I’ll just go home, be good to see Harvey, probably play around with him in the back and he’ll be throwing balls at me and I’ll be chasing him. Yeah, that will keep me amused for sure.”

But Leishman knows when it comes to Australia’s history with the Masters, it can get all-too serious.

Greg Norman suffered the greatest last-day collapse in major championship history at the 1996 Masters, leading by six over Nick Faldo only to lose by five to the Englishman.

“I watched it. Obviously it was disappointing. But that’s golf,” Leishman said. “Having come here now and played this course a few times, I can see how what happened, happened. But that’s life I guess.”

Norman also finished with a bogey in the 1986 Masters to hand Jack Nicklaus his 18th and last major title. In 1987, Norman lost a play-off when Augusta native Larry Mize holed a miraculous chip shot.

And in 2011, Aussies Adam Scott and Jason Day shared second, falling short when South African Charl Schwartzel became the first man to birdie the final four holes to win a major.

Australians have won every other major golf crown and the latest best hope to win the Masters is 2009 PGA Rookie of the Year Leishman, who birdied the par-5 13th, par-4 14th, par-5 15th and par-3 16th holes to seize the lead.