Rory McIlroy is in contention after the first round of the US Masters at Augusta National, his three under par 69 leaving him three shots behind leader Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy hit just one bogey in his round and this was key as his back nine was a grind which saw him save a series of pars.
Spieth, who won the green jacked in 2015, was on fire after the turn, hitting five birdies in-a-row between 13 and 17. He finished Thursday's golf on six under and not even a bogey on the last could take the gloss off a stunning round of 66.
Finau's 'miracle' round.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 6, 2018
Spieth's birdie run.
Sergio's 13.
All in #TheTakeaway. pic.twitter.com/sTONb1eFNV
A day after dislocating his ankle, Tony Finau remarkably got into the mix at the head of the leaderboard on his Masters debut.
Finau was running backwards in an enthusiastic celebration of a hole-in-one on the seventh during the par-three contest on Wednesday when his left ankle buckled underneath him.
The 28-year-old then appeared to pop the dislocated ankle back into place, before later undergoing X-rays and an MRI scan which revealed a high ankle sprain but no significant damage.
And the American made the most of his lucky escape to recover from a bogey on the first to card a four-under-par 68 at Augusta National.
China's Li Haotong could keep a remarkable streak alive after carding an impressive opening 69 on his Masters debut.
Danny Willett (2016) and Sergio Garcia (2017) both won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic a few months before claiming the green jacket and Li did the same by holding off Rory McIlroy earlier this season.
The 22-year-old carded six birdies and three bogeys in the last 11 holes of his first round
Tiger Woods labelled his Masters return after an absence of two years as "awesome", but his performance fell well short of that lofty description.
A number of wild drives meant Woods did well to be three over par after 12 holes and the 14-time major winner birdied the 14th and 16th to card a one-over par 73.
"It was interesting, an up-and-down day for me today," Woods said. "I played the par fives very sloppily and that was the difference in the round."
Woods is contesting the year's opening major for the first time in three years after undergoing spinal fusion surgery in April last year and has finished 12th, second and fifth in his last three starts on the PGA Tour.
"It felt great to be back out there again," the 42-year-old added.
Henrik Stenson discovered a lack of practice made perfect as he celebrated his 42nd birthday in style at Augusta National.
Stenson only arrived on Tuesday afternoon and played a total of 13 holes in practice, but broke 70 on the opening day for the first time with a three-under-par 69.
"It's a tiring week. It's easy to overdo it out there," said the former Open champion, who had been a cumulative 59 over par in his previous 12 Masters starts.
Sergio Garcia's title defence effectively came to an embarrassing end as he took an amazing 13 shots to play the 15th hole.
Garcia dumped five balls into the water on the par five, where he made an eagle in last year's final round, to record the highest score on the hole in tournament history.
The previous record was 11 shots, shared by Jumbo Ozaki, Ben Crenshaw and Ignacio Garrido.
After his second shot - with a six iron from 206 yards - found the water in front of the green, Garcia took a penalty drop and left himself around 90 yards to the green, but repeatedly hit wedge shots onto the putting surface and watched them spin back into the hazard.
"I don't know what to tell you," Garcia said. "It's one of those things. I feel like it's the first time in my career where I make a 13 without missing a shot. Simple as that.
"I felt like I hit a lot of good shots and unfortunately the ball just didn't want to stop. So it's just unfortunate, but that's what it is."
