Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka shot superb seven-under-par 65s to lead the Masters after day one as Rory McIlroy made another slow start.
The 33-year-old Northern Irishman holed five birdies but they were cancelled out as he carded a level-par 72.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is well placed after a four-under 66, while Tiger Woods limped to a 74.
Stormy weather is forecast for the next two days, raising prospects of a first Monday finish since 1983.
However, the calm conditions on Thursday enabled 16 players to shoot under 70.
Australian former world number one Jason Day and American Cameron Young are the closest to the three co-leaders after each shot a five-under 67.
Ireland’s 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, American world number seven Xander Schauffele and Australia’s 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott are within three shots on a star-studded leaderboard.
However, 15-time major winner Woods, playing in the same group as Hovland and Schauffele, could not match their exploits.
The 47-year-old, who won the last of his five Green Jackets in 2019, has said he will never fully recover from the serious car accident where he nearly lost his leg in February 2021 and his physical condition looked awkward on the steep hills of the iconic course.
Scottish veteran Sandy Lyle, who won the 1988 Masters, snapped a club as he shot a nine-over 81 in what is the penultimate round of his professional career.
The 65-year-old former Ryder Cup player recently announced his impending retirement, with a fitting end at the scene of one of his greatest triumphs.
Lyle described his performance as “substandard” but there is a chance another legendary figure could make the weekend.
Fred Couples, the 63-year-old American who won the Masters in 1992, became the oldest player to break par at Augusta since Tom Watson in 2015 with a one-under 71.
Four birdies between the 12th and 17th holes moved Couples into joint third position before a bogey on the last – plus the later starters – dropped him down the leaderboard.
An initial field of 88 players at the opening men’s major of the year was reduced after American pair Will Zalatoris and Kevin Na withdrew
World number eight Zalatoris, who was the 2021 runner-up and also finished sixth last year, has been battling with a back injury in recent months.
The 26-year-old’s withdrawal was announced minutes before he was due to tee off alongside England’s reigning US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and American 2021 Open winner Collin Morikawa.
Na, another LIV golfer, played the front nine before quitting because of illness when four over par.
Source – BBC Sport
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