Indian golfer Anirban lahiri produced a highly commendable first round on his Masters debut, carding a one-under 71 to be tied 18th alongside some of the biggest names here.
lahiri, who had two birdies — one on each side of the famed Augusta National Golf Club — also had one bogey in his first appearance at the Masters tournament.
Playing extremely steady through the day and riding a couple of favourable bounces, lahiri also made some fine par saves during his round.
"I will take it (the score on first day), but now the first day is done and dusted and now I am focused on the second and hopefully the weekend from there on," said the 27-year-old lahiri, who won two co-sanctioned events in a span of three weeks in February this year.
The top 50 and ties and all those within 10 shots of the leader make the cut for the weekend rounds. A total of 98 players set for the 79th edition and it included 20 first-timers, 19 past champions and seven amateurs.
Tied with lahiri at 18th were the likes of Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, legendary 65-year-old Tom Watson and other Major winners like Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell and Keegan Bradley.
Interestingly, lahiri's 71 is the best round by an Indian at the Masters, equalling Jeev Milkha Singh's effort in 2008 and it was also the second best card from a first-timer on Thursday.
lahiri began with a string of seven pars before finding his first Masters birdie on the eighth and he had a second birdie on the 16th and he dropped just one shot when he three-putted on the ninth.
lahiri handled his starting nerves very well. He opened with a 280-yard drive to the edge of the fairway bunker but recovered well from there to get his par from six feet.
On the second, lahiri survived a scare as he drove into the pine needles on the left and then went to the first cut on the right.
But from there he got to about 80 feet and two putted with the par putt being a tense nine-footer. Five more pars followed as he settled down.
"I started out well with a couple of saves. On the first I misjudged my second shot and on the second, it was a par-5 and I saved the par after going to the right. It was important, because if you bogey a par-5 so early it can affect your momentum," he said.
His first birdie came when he had a fine drive on the eighth to 285 yards just to the left of the fairway bunker and from there his second shot landed 40 yards from the flag and his pitch got him to three feet for a great birdie.
With six birdies in a seven-hole stretch, Spieth flirted with a major championship record he didn't know existed and atoned for his lone mistake with one last birdie putt for an 8-under 64. It was the best opening round at Augusta National in 19 years, gave him a three-shot lead and stole plenty of buzz from the Grand Slam bid of Rory McIlroy and the return of Tiger Woods.
"It's one of the better rounds I've ever played," he said.
That wasn't the case for McIlroy, though his round wasn't awful. The world's No. 1 player saved par four times on the front nine and scratched out a 71. Woods had three birdies in his round of 73, and while it was the first time since 2007 that he shot over par in the first round of the Masters, it was looked upon as progress. Most peculiar about his first round in two months was that his short game saved him.
But the day belonged to Spieth, a 21-year-old Texan who at least got into the Masters record book as the youngest to lead after the first round.
"What a player," Ernie Els said, for Speith, after a 67, his best score at the Masters since Phil Mickelson beat him with a birdie on the last hole in 2004.
Els played the par 5s in 5 under and briefly had the lead until Spieth went on his birdie spree.
Els was tied for second with Jason Day, Justin Rose and Charley Hoffman.
Hoffman finished with an eagle and two birdies over his last four holes.
Day looked to be the most dangerous. Twice a contender at Augusta in the last four years, he made five straight birdies on the back nine until he lost momentum with a bogey from the bunker on the 17th. Still, three shots behind after one round wasn't a bad place to be.
Coming off successive major victories to close out last year, McIlroy needs only a green jacket to become the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. He has never started a Masters with this much historic significance in play, or this much attention.
"It could have been a round that got away from me," McIlroy said. "I just stayed patient, realizing that it's a 72-hole tournament. It was good to get into red numbers."
That wasn't that difficult to achieve on a day of soft conditions. Thirty players in the 97-man field broke par.