Anirban Lahiri makes steady start at Masters

Anirban Lahiri, who has had a spectacular 12 months, made an extremely steady start with seven pars on the trot before finding the first Masters birdie and got into the red numbers for the first time on the par-5 eight. He closed the front nine with yet another par to be one-under for the front stretch on the first day of the 79th Masters.

At the time of going to the press, he was one-under through 10 holes.

Lahiri may have had nerves before the tee-off but he kept that well within himself and was looking confident while making sure he was not getting ahead of himself. Taking time of his shots and not getting overawed by the situation, he also kept himself calm by talking and laughing along with the extremely friendly Miguel Angel Jimenez, with whom he has played in the recent past including the Hero Indian Open that he won. The third player in the pairing was Lee Westwood, with whom also Lahiri shares a friendly relationship.

After seven straight pars, Lahiri hit 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 pin. A perfect pitch saw him come within three feet, which he duly holed for a birdie amidst thunderous applause from a goodly Indian fan following at Augusta National.

Armed with the confidence of a fine front nine, Lahiri celebrated the start of the back nine with 301-yard drive that was followed by another immaculate second shot. A good first putt saw him within a foot, which he tapped for par.

Earlier Lahiri overcame the butterflies on the first hole, with a 280-yard drive to the edge of the fairway bunker. He got 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. He kept his composure and parred the rest of the way till the eighth. He managed his six to eight footers without any error.

Meanwhile at the top, Charley Hoffman, who hit the first shot of the 2015 Masters and is playing only his second Masters, opened with a brilliant five-under which included four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.

Hoffman, who started the day by getting himself autographs from legends and honorary starters Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, also wears a green glove, a colour that is associated with the Masters.

Talking about the legends, he said, "My mind wasn't really on golf, it was on watching those guys."

Hoffman's purple patch came on the back when he eagled the 15th and birdied the 16th. Hoffman was just one clear of Justin Rose, who was four-under through 10 holes.

Camillo Villegas (through 16 holes), Russell Henley (through 14) and Bill Haas (through 7) were three-under.

Defending Masters champ Bubba Watson, who also won in 2012, was two-under through 16 holes, while the legendary Tom Watson, 65 and winner of eight Majors including two Masters, was also two-under through 16 holes.

Four-time winner Tiger Woods, who is making his return from a two-month absence due to injury, was scheduled to tee off later on Thursday.

Top-ranked Rory McIlroy, chasing his career Grand Slam, is paired with three-time winner Phil Mickelson and Ryan Moore. Mickelson, who has three Masters Green Jackets among his five Major collection, was one-under through six holes while McIlroy was one-over through six holes.