Friday 8 April 2016 19:15, UK
Jordan Spieth is in familiar territory at Augusta National as he defied blustery conditions to open his defence of The Masters with a flawless 66.
Spieth made three birdies on each nine and was the only player in the 89-man field to keep a bogey off his card on the first day.
The defending champion's six-under round gave him a two-stroke lead over Danny Lee and Shane Lowry, while the experienced English trio of Paul Casey, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter were a shot further adrift and Rory McIlroy's second attempt to complete a career Grand Slam of majors began with an erratic 70.
Spieth cruised to the turn in 33 with birdies at the third, sixth and eighth, and he picked up another shot at 10 before a wayward drive into the pines at 11 looked likely to cost him a bogey.
But he did well to scramble a par and he repeated the feat at the short 12th despite going over the green with his tee shot, and a two-putt birdie at the 13th got him back on track.
He kissed his putter as he left the 16th green after nailing a 15-footer for par following a blocked iron to the right, and he signed off in style as he knocked his approach to seven feet at the last and the putt was never in doubt.
Lee mixed six birdies with two bogeys in his 68, while Lowry got off to a remarkable start in his second Masters appearance as he reeled off four consecutive birdies from the second hole and added another at the eighth.
But the Irishman faltered on the inward half as he bogeyed the 12th and parred the final six holes, missing out on outright second place when his 15-foot birdie putt at the last shaved the lip of the cup.
Casey, playing alongside Spieth, moved smoothly to three under after 10 flawless holes, but he bogeyed the next two before getting both shots back at the par-five 13th and 15th, and another birdie at 16 took him to four under before he erred again at the 17th.
Rose also rolled in his third birdie putt of the round at the 10th, although he offset further gains at 13 and 15 with dropped shots at the 11th and 16th.
Poulter's 69 featured six birdies and three blemishes as he joined the group on three under, which was further bolstered by Sergio Garcia and Soren Kjeldsen.
McIlroy, the final man to tee off on day one, appeared set to make it a six-way tie for fourth before a bogey at the last rounded off a mixed-bag of a round as he struggled to eliminate the mistakes that proved costly during the PGA Tour's Florida Swing.
The world No 3 got up and running with a solid birdie at the second before taking a step back after a poor tee shot to the par-three fourth, although he bounced back with confident birdie putts at the seventh and ninth to turn in 34.
He followed a bogey at 11 with a superb second to the 13th which he converted for eagle, and he two-putted from around 50 feet at the 15th for another gain after his second narrowly cleared the water.
But he dropped shots at two of the last three holes to slip four strokes behind Spieth, as did new father Danny Willett after he carded his only bogey of the day at the last.
World No 1 Jason Day endured contrasting fortunes on each nine, an eagle at the second and three birdies taking him to the turn in 31 before he bogeyed 10 and 15 and then made a mess of the 16th - putting his tee shot into the water and then three-putting from the fringe to run up an ugly six.
The Australian limped in with a disappointing 72, while two-time champion Bubba Watson also found the drink at 16 as he dropped five shots in four holes in his 75.
