Aaron Rai said it was “beyond expectations” after he kicked off his Masters debut with a two-under-par 70 at Augusta National.
The Englishman briefly reached four under after consecutive gains at the seventh and eighth.
Having dropped three shots in as many holes around Amen Corner, Rai managed to make further birdies at the 15th and 17th.
“Really good start overall,” said the two-time DP World Tour winner. “Without playing this course under competitive conditions before, it's very difficult to figure out how the course is going to play in the flow of it.
“We did a nice amount of practice at the start of the week in February, but I really didn't know how the course was going to play just with that lack of experience. Yeah, very, very pleased with how it went overall today.
“Definitely beyond expectations. Played really nicely. Holed a couple of nice putts for birdie and a couple of nice putts to keep the round going early on.
“I tried not to get too far ahead of myself, but I knew there were some difficult holes coming up, especially around the midsection of this round, around 12 and 13.
“Tried to stay as present as possible, and the course definitely called me out on that middle section today.
“Yeah, great start and great first round overall.”
