Erik van Rooyen handled Amen Corner just fine on Thursday. Well, almost. He dropped a shot on the par-three 12^th on his way to a one-over-par 73 for his opening round in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

Van Rooyen had to withdraw from the 2020 Masters in the first round with an injury, so there was a sense that his three birdies and four bogeys which put him in a share of 31^st was a first proper tournament round in the year’s first men’s major championship.

“This is only my second time, and my first time with people,” said Van Rooyen. “I don’t have anything to compare that to. I thought it played tough, but I thought I played well.”

He certainly was in good shape as he got into Amen Corner on level-par, with the already tough par-four 11^th looming. It has been lengthened 15 yards to 520, making it longer by 10 yards than the par-five 13^th. In addition to the length, a couple of dozen trees on the right side were removed and the green surround was hollowed out in the bail-out area to the right.

And when he made par on a hole that looked as if it was going to extract dropped shots from every single player, he was one of 51 players who got away unscathed. Only three made birdie, 30 made bogey and there were six double-bogeys and worse.

But the short par-three 12^th over the water was up to its tricks for South African players in the first round: Louis Oosthuizen hit his tee shot into the water and made five, while Charl Schwartzel pulled his long and left, and was unable to get up and down for par. So when Van Rooyen dropped his in the bunker between the green and the water, he was probably relieved. But there was no green to work with for his shot from the trap, and he two-putted from 11 feet for bogey.

Van Rooyen emerged unscathed from the 13^th, but he probably could have done with a birdie on the storied par-five.

He went on to make birdie on the last par-five, the 15^th, but he dropped a shot on the 18^th, which didn’t much please him. “I’m disappointed with the bogey on 18,” said Van Rooyen. “It’s still a little sour taste in my mouth, but I thought I played really well.

“I don’t know what they did. They might have hidden the tee behind a tree or something. The key with 18 is you have to get it in play. From there it’s pretty simple. Both my partners three-putted, but I think the key is you have to get it in the fairway somewhere. I didn’t. Honestly, it just played tough, and that’s how it is.”

Now that he has that first encounter with Amen Corner behind him, he feels a little freer about the rest of the tournament. “I’m five back, and that’s just fine,” he said. “My mindset going into tomorrow is to try and make 18 birdies.”