Woods had two birdies, an eagle, two bogeys and a double

The 30-year-old struggled with his putter early on but birdied the 8th. He then bogeyed 10 before sinking his approach at 14 for a superb eagle.

But he found water at the 15th to record a double-bogey, only to hole a long putt at the last for birdie.

The 72, however, was Woods' best first round here since 2002, and two shots better than last year's effort when he won the fourth of his Green Jackets.

In 12 visits to the Masters, Woods has never beaten 70 in the first round but the 10-time major-winner considered himself unlucky to have carded only a 72 this time.

"I was shocked," said Woods. "I thought I played really well, actually. I hit a bunch of good shots."

With the wind supposed to blow 20mph tomorrow, it should make things interesting Tiger Woods Quotes of the day

The best was his 163-yard eight-iron at the 14th for eagle, but he followed that by chipping his third shot at the long 15th into the lake in front of the green.

"Somebody left a pretty big divot there," he said. "I couldn't get at the ball and one of my options was to rip a seven-iron into the grandstand. But I fatted it into the water."

The birdie at the last certainly improved his mood and having scored 76, 75 and 74 in his last three Masters first rounds, he is still very much in contention.

"I thought I could have gotten under par but it just didn't happen," he said. "Still, I'm in good shape. Better than it was last year.

"The course is playing really tough. We haven't played it like this in a while, where it has been dry. It's playing really fast.

"It plays more like a US Open right now than it does a Masters.

"With the wind supposed to blow 20mph tomorrow, it should make things interesting."