Rory McIlroy admitted his short game dug him out of trouble as his Masters hopes were almost blown away on the opening day at Augusta National.
McIlroy's latest quest to complete a career Grand Slam of major championships got off to a rocky start in the blustery conditions when he bogeyed two of the first three holes and struggled to get into a rhythm with his irons.
A poor drive and another green missed cost him a bogey-six at the eighth as he stumbled to the turn in 39, but his assured pitching and solid putting salvaged excellent pars after he went long at the 11th and 12th.
The world No 2 then caught a huge break when his second to the 13th came up short and looked certain to end up in Rae's Creek, but his ball plugged on the bank and he made the most of the reprieve to chip to four feet and hole the putt for his first birdie of the tournament.
McIlroy then made a good four at the long 15th and came within inches of a hole-in-one at 16, leaving himself just two feet for another birdie which dragged him back to level par.
He parred safely in two to stay in a tie for 12th, seven shots behind runaway leader Charley Hoffman, and he was delighted with his recovery over the inward nine, which he began with three clutch par saves.
McIlroy spent much of his six-week injury break earlier this year working hard on his chipping and putting, and he said: "My short game really saved me today, especially on 10, 11 and 12, which were huge.
"Thankfully I managed to birdie the two par fives and another one coming in and even par was a great score so I'm really happy with that. I know I did my best out there and I gritted it out, and I would have ripped someone's hand off for a 72 on the 10th tee.
"I feel a little disappointed because I had a chance on 17 for birdie, but I'm really happy with that and it puts me in a good frame of mind. I would have struggled to put together a back nine like that in previous years.
"I've done the work on the short game and I believe I'm doing the right things. I just didn't want to give up. I wanted to put my head down, show a bit of grit, a bit of determination, and I was able to do that. I think I'm in a good position with three rounds to go and we will see how it goes."