Lee Westwood was top the first-round leader board

Ernie els, a four-time champion and also the tournament favorite, was lurking nearby the top until he closed with two bogeys to have an even-par 72.

Phil Mickelson, looking for his fourth green jacket, lost a ball at the par-4 10th on his approach to only his second triple bogey in 75 competitive rounds at Augusta National. He finished a birdie for any 74.

Then there was clearly Luke Donald, the world's top-ranked player, whose standing in the tournament was thrown into Titleist 712 AP1 Irons question temporarily as a consequence of an administrative error.

When all of the ripples from your spills had dissipated, Lee Westwood, that's 0 for 55 in majors, was atop the first-round leader board which has a five-under 67, one stroke in front of Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion from South Africa, and Peter Hanson of Sweden.

Westwood, who played the front nine in 32 strokes, finished with two bogeys and seven birdies en route to equaling his career-low round here.

There weren't any weaknesses available today inside my game, said Westwood, who finished second behind Mickelson really. I hit it close, hit lots of fairways and rolled in some nice putts.

Six players were tied for fourth at 69: Paul Lawrie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Francesco Molinari, Ben Crane, Jason Dufner and Bubba Watson.

Rory McIlroy, the reigning U . s . Open champion, opened having a double bogey at No. 1 and scrambled for the 71. His score was matched by Patrick Cantlay, the amateur from U.C.L.A.

What Lawrie, Jimenez and Molinari share ?a apart from their European roots  is they have shown they're able to thrive on the spotlight's periphery. Lawrie, 42, won the 1999 British Open, which can Titleist 712 AP2 Irons be remembered more to the collapse of Jean van de Velde, who designed a triple bogey about the final hole and lost inside a playoff.

For some time, Lawrie said, the favorite narrative of that British Open van de Velde lost the tournament, not too he won it deeply troubled him. One day, I merely thought, ??Man, precisely what are you battling against this for Lawrie said. There's just no reason. Just get on with it. Just play your golf. Individuals will respect you should you discount golf clubs win tournaments.

Jimenez, a cigar-chomping Spaniard, was combined with Woods, which meant he'd to contend with the distraction caused from the sizable gallery, which moved to the rhythm of Woods's shots.