Rory McIlroy was the leader in the clubhouse for most of the day at Augusta, but the Spaniard Alvaros Quiros hit a round high eight birdies to make a furious charge at the end of the day for a share of the lead after round one. Both shot a 65 and are seven under on the day. McIlroy, who missed the cut last year, says he feels more comfortable at Augusta National than ever before.
"I think that Augusta National, it takes years and years of figuring out and they make tiny little adjustments here and there, but I feel a lot more comfortable on the golf course this year than I did the previous couple of years, which is great. And it showed in the way I played today. I played some really good golf out there."
Koreans Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi are tied for third at five under, while Americans Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes sit at four under. Choi, who has previously finished as high as third at the Masters, says he's felt comfortable on the course.
"I think I feel comfortable because I know where to hit the ball on to the green and I know where to attack the fairways.
The fact that there's so many galleries here on both sides of the hole, on any hole, any given hole, it really enables me to focus. It's easy to set the target."
Defending Masters champion and tournament favorite Phil Mickelson finished the day two under. He walked up to 18 at three under, but bogeyed the final hole to finish with a 70 on the day. Mickelson afterward that his round was just okay.
"It's okay, just okay. I didn't shoot myself out of it but I didn't make up ground on the field the way I wanted to, so I've got to go do it tomorrow"
Tiger Woods shot a 71 to finish a stroke under par in his first round. That has him currently tied for 24th, but just six strokes off the lead. He was one under at the turn, but back to back bogeys on 10 and 11 got the back nine off to a rough start. He was able to rebound with birdies on 13 and 14, but shot par on the final four holes. Woods said he felt good about his round, "Absolutely. I'm only six back."