Entry 3: Day one didn’t disappoint

It comes as no surprise, with so many of the world’s best players seemingly at the top of their game, that day two of the 76th Masters tournament is excitingly poised.

Lee Westwood, in pursuit of his maiden major title, leads by one and appears to be in formidable touch. The Englishman hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation yesterday and only missed two fairways. Do that around Augusta and you’ll give yourself plenty of birdie opportunities – he did that, and converted seven of them.

Before the tournament began, much of the talk was of the rivalry between World No.2 Rory McIlroy and 14-time major champion Tiger Woods. But their golf didn’t live up to their billing, especially that of Woods, who admitted to hitting some of the worst shots of his life during his opening round of 72.

Woods struggled with a pull-hook for much of the round starting at the very first hole, missing the fairway way to the left but scrambling a par. He did the same on the next hole and was forced to take a penalty drop. His work with coach Sean Foley appeared to have reached a breakthrough with an imperious driving display en route to winning at Bay Hill two weeks ago. But yesterday, he said he felt like he had the Hank Haney backswing and Sean Foley downswing. Unsurprisingly, his accuracy suffered and he has plenty to work on today before his 1.42pm tee time.

What of Rory? Looking to banish the demons of 12 months ago, a double bogey at the opening hole was not what the Northern Irishman was looking for. But he displayed the same resilience that earned him his first major title last year and birdied the final hole to beat Woods by one with a 71.

Spare a thought for Henrik Stenson. The Swede has had a torrid 18 months, sliding down the rankings and only qualifying for the Masters through his win at the Players’ Championship three years ago. But he’d been showing positive signs on the PGA Tour in the last few weeks and continued this into the early stage of day one yesterday, firing two eagles on the front nine and a birdie at the 10th to reach six-under par and lead by three. But on the 18th, his round fell apart. His quadruple bogey eight tied the highest ever score on Augusta National’s final hole. He admitted after he was desperate to vent his anger but ‘needed his clubs tomorrow’.

In a bizarre event late yesterday, there was talk of the world No.1 Luke Donald being disqualified from the event for signing for the wrong score. The Augusta scorers had the Englishman down for a birdie three on the fifth, yet signed for a bogey five. Manic confusion ensued but it transpired, in the process of his card being faxed, a clerical error meant a three was interpreted instead of a five, meaning Donald had signed for the correct score and the error was corrected.

Round two promises to be another enthralling day, with top players battling to make the cut, Rory and Tiger seeking to move into contention and Westwood hoping to extend his lead at the top.

Read our round-one recap here.