Tiger toils in opening round of The Masters, Rahm, Koepka Hovland set hot pace

Tiger Woods had a tough day on his return to action at The Masters, with the five-time winner put in the shade by playing partner Viktor Hovland.

Hovland holds a share of the lead alongside Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka at seven-under after the opening round, with Rory McIlroy off the pace as he carded a level-par 72.

Woods has pared back his schedule after suffering a serious leg injury in a car crash in 2021.

He made only three appearances last season as he struggled with the injury, and 2023 is set to see him make only fleeting appearances in the professional ranks.

On the eve of the tournament, Woods spoke positively about how well he was hitting the ball and there was evidence of that during his opening 18 holes.

But he looked well short of match sharpness, which showed when he was on and around the greens.

He three-putted on the fifth and seventh to drop a shot, and also gave one up to the card following a poor chip on the third.

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There were occasional sprinkles of stardust, notably on the 10th when he whipped his second shot around a tree after finding himself out of position.

The one putt of note he made was on 15 for birdie, which sent him towards the clubhouse in a positive mood.

But overall there was too much rust, and he was unfortunate to find a bad stance with his second shot on 18 and it resulted in a bogey and him signing for a two-over 74.

He walked off the 18th nine shots adrift of Hovland, who made Augusta look like a simple task.

Hovland never looked back from making a brilliant eagle on the second, and even when finding trouble – such as when short-siding himself on 10 – he produced magic around the greens.

It resulted in the Norwegian carding a bogey-free round of 65 to enter the clubhouse at seven-under.

Xander Schauffele was the other player in the group, and the American plotted his way round to put himself firmly in the mix at four-under following a round of 68.

Rahm made a horror start as he four-putted the first for a double bogey.

No player in the history of The Masters has won the title after starting with a double bogey, but he bounced back superbly in the following 17 holes.

The Spaniard played some sensational golf as he climbed the leaderboard, and a closing birdie at 18 saw him join Hovland at seven-under.

Fresh from his win in the LIV Golf event in Orlando, Koepka showed he still has the game to compete with the best as he joined Rahm and Hovland at the top of the leaderboard.

Kopeka, the 2019 runner-up, birdied three of his final four holes to get to seven-under.

Will Zalartoris has two top 10s at The Masters, but will not be in action this week after withdrawing shortly before his tee time due to injury.

The American had only recently returned to action following a serious back injury he suffered at the end of last year.