The Masters: Charley Hoffman leads after opening 65

Day one leaders

-7 Charley Hoffman
-3 William McGirt
-2 Lee Westwood
Selected others on -1: Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sergio Garcia

Day one report

Having been level par through seven holes, Hoffman made seven birdies in his closing 11 to burst into a four-shot lead on a day of difficult conditions at Augusta.

The Californian took advantage of the par-five eighth and made a slick downhill putt at the ninth to begin his climb up the leaderboard, and while a chance would disappear at the 10th he made amends with an 11-foot birdie at the famous 12th.

His second to the par-five 13th hole found water to throw a spanner in the works, but Hoffman saved his par before bursting clear of the field with four birdies in succession from the 14th.

Hoffman finished ninth in the Masters in 2015 after opening rounds of 67 and 68 meant he played in the final group with Spieth on day three.

"I'm going to feed off that the rest of the week," he said. "Today you just sort of go with it. There wasn't, I wouldn't say, a ton of pressure today. You're just trying to make ends meet really.

"Obviously going to sleep on the lead at a major championship here at Augusta National is not going to be the easiest thing. I look forward to it, and I look forward to the challenge the next three days.

"I was a little bit lucky. I was able to make some longer putts, which you're just trying to die it up there close to the hole, and they were able to go in."

Tipped at 100/1 in the first-round leader market by our Ben Coley prior to the tournament, Hoffman ended the day four clear of the only other player in the field to break 70, debutant William McGirt.

Winner of the Memorial Tournament last summer to earn his first invite to Augusta National, McGirt made just one bogey in an impressive opening 69 despite playing much of his round in the strongest winds.

Lee Westwood produced arguably the comeback of the day, as having turned in three-over he made five birdies in a row from the 13th before a scrambled par at the last in a two-under round of 70.

Russell Henley posted an under-par round from the first group of the day, and his one-under 71 was matched by three-time winner Phil Mickelson, plus Andy Sullivan, Kevin Chappell, Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Dufner and Sergio Garcia, the latter having produced a blemish-free scorecard.

Belgium's Thomas Pieters had stormed into an early lead at five-under through 10 on his Augusta debut, but fell foul of Amen Corner as he made bogey at the 11th followed by a double at the 12th, his tee-shot coming up short and finding the water hazard.

Pieters ended the day at level-par along with the likes of Soren Kjeldsen and Paul Casey, both of whom finished inside the top 10 last year, and they were joined in the evening by a resurgent Rory McIlroy.

The four-time major champion bogeyed two of the first three holes and was three-over at the turn, but a par save at the 10th followed by two more at holes 11 and 12 reignited his challenge.

McIlroy, bidding to complete a career grand slam, made birdie at the par-five 13th when his second shot fortuitously came to rest on the bank, before adding two more at holes 15 and 16, the latter after his tee-shot almost landed in the hole.

A chance went begging at the 17th, but McIlroy made one more up and down for a closing par and a round of 72, which appeared most unlikely midway through the afternoon.

 "My short game really saved me today, especially on 10, 11 and 12, which were huge," McIlroy said.

"Thankfully I managed to birdie the two par fives and another one coming in and even par was a great score so I'm really happy with that.

"I know I did my best out there and I gritted it out. I would have ripped someone's hand off for a 72 on the 10th tee. I feel somewhat disappointed because I had a chance on 17 for birdie to shoot under par, but I'm really happy with that and it puts me in a good frame of mind.

"I would have struggled to put together a back nine like that in previous years. I've done the work on the short game and I believe I'm doing the right things. I just didn't want to give up. I wanted to put my head down, show a bit of grit, a bit of determination, and I was able to do that."

But day one at the Masters belonged to Hoffman, who has played well in his three previous Masters starts but never to the standards produced on Thursday, in what was surely one of the great opening rounds in major championship history.

 McIlroy admitted he was stunned to see Hoffman shoot 65 in the tough conditions, adding: "I thought if anyone broke 70 today that would be an unbelievable score and then to see what he did over the last six or seven holes was incredible golf.

"I'm walking off there after my start ecstatic with a 72 and he is walking off with a 65, but as they say they don't give green jackets out on Thursdays and there is no winning post there.

"I think I'm in a good position with three rounds to go and we will see how it goes." 

Collated scores

(USA unless stated, par 72)

65 Charley Hoffman

69 William McGirt

70 Lee Westwood (Eng)

71 Jason Dufner, Kevin Chappell, Phil Mickelson, Andrew Sullivan (Eng), Justin Rose (Eng), Russell Henley, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)

72 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Rory McIlroy (Nirl), Shane Lowry (Irl), Ernie Els (Rsa), Paul Casey (Eng), Matt Kuchar, Thomas Pieters (Bel)

73 Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman (Aus), Jon Rahm (Spa), Danny Willett (Eng), Scott Piercy, Rickie Fowler, Fred Couples

74 Jason Day (Aus), Chris Wood (Eng), Pat Perez, Stewart Hagestad (a), Alex Noren (Swe), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Bubba Watson, Brendan Steele, Brooks Koepka, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Rod Pampling (Aus), Daniel Summerhays, Larry Mize, Kevin Kisner, Ryan Moore

75 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Steve Stricker, Adam Scott (Aus), Gary Woodland, Adam Hadwin (Can), Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim (Kor), Billy Hurley III, Bill Haas, James Hahn, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth

76 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Ross Fisher (Eng), Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Branden Grace (Rsa), Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Kevin Na, Sean O'Hair, Mike Weir (Can), Jimmy Walker, Ian Woosnam (Wal), Russell Knox (Sco), Patrick Reed

77 Brian Stuard, Hudson Swafford, Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Daniel Berger, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Sandy Lyle (Sco), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Henrik Stenson (Swe)

78 Brad Dalke (a), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jeung-Hun Wang (Kor), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Vijay Singh (Fij), J.B. Holmes, Jim Furyk, Mark O'Meara, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Curtis Luck (a) (Aus), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)

79 Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Roberto Castro, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Angel Cabrera (Arg)

80 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)

81 Toto Gana (a) (Chi)

82 Scott Gregory (a) (Eng)