Hensby - clubhouse leader (Getty Images)

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Luke Donald was leading the European charge as the 69th Masters championship burst into life after a five-and-a-half-hour rain delay at Augusta National.

The High Wycombe ace was on three under par after the first day, just one shot off the lead held by Chris DiMarco.

There were thrills and spills aplenty after play finally got under way - mostly spills, it has to be said.

The crowd at the long 13th saw Tiger Woods send an eagle putt into Rae's Creek and England's Paul Casey, sixth on his debut last year, run up a quintuple bogey 10.

Those on the ninth saw Nick Faldo, like Woods a three-time champion, quit with a back injury when standing four-over.

Those on the first saw Woods's 90-yard pitch hit the flag and bounce into a bunker. And those on the second saw Woods hook a drive that hit trees and travelled barely 100 yards.

But the fans surrounding the short 16th witnessed something that has never been seen on any hole in the history of the tournament - a 14.

That was not by Woods, but by 1970 champion Billy Casper, who returning to the event at the age of 73 dumped five balls into the lake before finally making it over and then three-putting.

Casper beat by one the 13s of Tom Weiskopf at the 12th in 1980 and Tommy Nakajima at the 13th in 1978 - and beat by three the previous worst on the 16th by Herman Barron 55 years ago.

It was one of four unwanted records Casper set or equalled.

His back nine of 57 - which came first because the delayed start led to the 93-strong field being sent off from the first and 10th tees - was the worst by eight.

His round of 106 was the worst by 11 and his front nine 49 matched the worst-ever.

Whether his round score appears in the record books remains to be seen, however. Coming off the final green Casper was given his card, put it in his pocket and did not hand it in to the official scorers.

"I was only going to play 18 holes - I just had to get it out of my system," he said. "I wanted to do it again. A lot of my grandchildren were here."

At least he was spared the highest scores in major history. Ray Tinsley had a 19 on one hole in the US Open and JD Tucker shot an amazing 157 in the first round of the 1898 US Open.

It was only recently that some of the 'golden oldies' received letters from the club suggesting they reconsider their lifetime exemption into the event.

Casper has not made the halfway cut since 1979, but after staying away for three years he decided he wanted to come back and play at least once more.

His struggles rather camouflaged the fact that Gary Player was only one away from matching the front nine record with a calamitous 48.

Now 69, Player triple-bogeyed the short fourth, double-bogeyed the first and seventh, and his only par was on the long second.

Casey had been so looking forward to coming back as well after such a successful debut, but he turned in 40 and then, after a birdie at the 12th, fell victim to the next.

The Ryder Cup star reloaded on the tee after hooking into Rae's Creek and then misjudged the wind to put himself back in trouble.

With a 79 he was joint 82nd of the 91 players who remained following Faldo's withdrawal and Casper's self-disqualification.

And alongside Casey was Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, whose debut turned into a nightmare with a back-nine 42 and then a double bogey on the first, while British amateur champion Stuart Wilson managed only an 82.

Woods had to battle for all he was worth to be two-over after 12 holes when the light ran out, while Ernie Els, runner-up last year, set off with two bogeys and hit into the lake on the 15th. He will return in the morning three-over with seven to play.

Today was not the first time Woods had putted into water. At the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama he went from the 17th green into the lake, but whereas he did not need to continue the hole then this was stroke play and even though he was able to go back and putt again he came off with a bogey six.

Only 24 players finished their rounds and leader in the clubhouse following a superb three-under 69 was Australian Mark Hensby.

Others were coping with the windy conditions as well - and they included debutant Donald.

The 27-year-old, second in the Players Championship two weeks ago, turned in 35 and after bogeying the first then birdied the next three, including a putt from off the green on the 205-yard fourth.

When play was halted he was three-under with Hensby, one behind American DiMarco, who had his own hat-trick of birdies at the start of the outward half to reach four-under.

DiMarco holed-in-one on the opening day 12 months ago and shared the third-round lead with Phil Mickelson before falling back.

As for Mickelson, he chipped in on the second after opening with a bogey and when a 30-footer dropped on the 10th the left-hander stood two-under and joint fourth.

World number one Vijay Singh got to three-under but bogeyed the 11th in the gathering gloom to fall back.

The first shock of the tournament was to see David Duval's name at the top of the leaderboard.

Now 593rd in the rankings after an almighty slump, the former world number one had two early birdies, but he then bogeyed the seventh, ninth, 10th, 11th and 13th and finished in 75.

Darren Clarke, playing with Woods, finished with a bogey on the third to stand level par and Padraig Harrington's closing bogey on the 14th left him on the same mark. Lee Westwood finished bogey-bogey to stand three-over.

Very happy with his day's work was David Howell, another of the European first-timers, who was first out and came in with a level-par 72.