AUGUSTA, Ga. -- After a dull morning that saw few explosions, the afternoon sky at Augusta National Golf Club lit up like a firework show as multiple major winners torched the second nine in the first round of the 2019 Masters. Three-time major champion Brooks Koepka and perpetual tinkerer Bryson DeChambeau led the way with 6-under 66s, but they have elite company in Phil Mickelson (67), Dustin Johnson (68), Ian Poulter (68), Jon Rahm (69) and Adam Scott (69).

And while that group played terrific golf, it was Koepka and DeChambeau who feasted the most. After playing the first nine in 35, the former made birdies at Nos. 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 before finally cooling off with pars at the final three for the 66. DeChambeau was much of the opposite. He stood on the 15th tee box just 2 under par before making four birdies to end his round. The one at No. 16 was nearly an eagle. Then the one at No. 18 hit the stick (!).

That duo -- possibly at odds, philosophically -- transformed a tepid day and made it great. And while they may not end up leading together going into the weekend, it would be kind of great if they did. DeChambeau is one of the most deliberate, cerebral players in the world. To put it kindly, he takes a long time to hit golf shots. Koepka? He plays what he calls "caveman golf," and he might be the fastest golfer alive. That led to this fun quote from Koepka about DeChambeau earlier in 2019.

"I just don't understand how it takes a minute and 20 seconds, a minute and 15 to hit a golf ball; it's not that hard," Koepka said on a Golf Monthly podcast. "It's always between two clubs; there's a miss short, there's a miss long. It really drives me nuts, especially when it's a long hitter because you know you've got two other guys or at least one guy that's hitting before you so you can do all your calculations; you should have your numbers. 

May we get 36 holes of these elite, at-odds golfers together over the weekend. Until then, here are nine other things to know about the first day of the 2019 Masters.

Want to watch the Masters this week? Stream Featured Groups, Amen Corner, Holes 15 & 16 and On the Range live on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App.

1. Top 10 after Round 1: If history holds, our 2019 champion will be one of these 10 golfers. Why? In the last 13 years, no eventual Masters winner has been outside the top 10 after 18 holes, and you have to go back to Tiger Woods in 2005 to find somebody who did it. The average score in that span of time is 68.8, and the average placement on the board is 4.5. This isn't just a last 10 years thing either.

  • Brooks Koepka
  • Bryson DeChambeau
  • Ian Poulter
  • Dustin Johnson
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Justin Harding
  • Adam Scott
  • Jon Rahm
  • Kevin Kisner
  • Kiradech Aphibarnrat

2. Tiger shoots 70: In 27 previous majors, Woods has shot 70 or better in the first round like he did on Thursday. He won 11 of those and finished in the top 10 a ridiculous 22 times.

3. Jordan Spieth seems ... lost: Fam, I followed Spieth for the first four holes on Thursday, and I have to say I've seen some unseemly things. He looks lost in all the ways you can possibly be lost. I respect the hell out of his grind and his rhetoric and his persistence, but I gasped aloud at multiple shots he hit over the first four holes. He won't stay lost forever, of course. None of the great ones do. But I honestly didn't know how bad it was until following him on Thursday.

4. Rory McIlroy's big miss: I followed part of Rory's first round on Thursday, and I didn't see a whole heap of good drives. He hit just 7 of 14 fairways but looked as if he was going to hold it together with his putter and iron play near the end. He unfortunately took five putts on the last two holes, though, and barring a world-class next two rounds, the slam is on life support until 2020.

5. Future slams: Here's a fun note on the career grand slam. If Koepka wins this week, each of the next four (at least) major championships would be for the slam. Spieth at the PGA Championship in May, Mickelson at the U.S. Open in June, Koepka at the Open in July and McIlroy at the Masters next April.

6. Jason Day's back: The Australian somehow injured himself right before his round after picking up his daughter. He was on withdrawal alert for a while before keeping it together and firing a 2-under 70 to slide into T11. His Friday status is apparently iffy.

7. We have some personalities on the board! This top 15 or 20 is a smorgasbord of great players and huge personalities. Obviously the patrons are here for the Dustin Johnsons, Brooks Koepkas, Adam Scotts and Jon Rahms. But I might be here for the Kiradech Aphibarnrats and Ian Poulters. I need them both throughout the weekend.

8. Hardest holes: The newly-designed fifth hole played tough (4.3 scoring average), but the three hardest holes on Thursday were No. 10, No. 11 and No. 18. That back left pin on No. 18 caused all kinds of issues and yielded just five birdies on the entire day. While we're here, how much fun are the Thursday and Sunday pin positions on No. 16? We almost saw aces about five different times on No. 16 on Thursday.

9. The opening walk: This is the 10th Masters that I've attended, though only the fourth I've covered as a journalist. I always think every year is going to be the year I stop gleefully delighting in the atmosphere and festivities and caught up in the overwhelming wave of it all. And every year ... I'm wrong. On Thursday, as I walked over to the Par 3 course to shoot a video for CBS Sports HQ, I merged with the patrons coming onto the grounds with their steaming coffee and fried chicken biscuits for the first day of competition, and I found myself lost in it all again. Dreaming as I walked about what has been and what could bem bout what has happened and what will happen. I got genuinely giddy about what's going to unfold over the next few days and getting to share that with tens of thousands of folks who are just as excited as I am.