Tiger Woods sank a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-4 14th hole to grab a share of the lead in yesterday’s opening round of the 83rd Masters.
Woods was on three-under par with three holes to play and atop the leaderboard with Spanish playing partner Jon Rahm, South African Justin Harding in the clubhouse and fellow American Patton Kizzire.
The 43-year-old superstar, a 14-time major winner seeking his fifth Masters green jacket, missed some short putts on the front nine but sank a five-footer for birdie at the ninth.
 He two-putted the par-5 13th from 53 feet for birdie and sank his dramatic long effort at 14 to evoke a roar from the crowd that lined every hole he played at Augusta National. Woods, who hasn’t won a major since the 2008 US Open, came back from spinal fusion surgery last year and contended in the British Open and PGA Championship before winning his 80th career US PGA title at the Tour Championship.
Earlier, Harding fired a three-under par 69 to seize the clubhouse lead.
Also on the course at three-under were American Patton Kizzire and Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard.
Harding, 33, was among the last players to qualify for the Masters, reaching the world rankings top 50 after a win at Qatar and runner-up effort in Kenya last month in European Tour events.
Harding opened with a birdie from 10 feet and added another at the third, landing his approach two feet from the cup. He took a bogey at the fifth, missing the green on his approach and a 12-foot par putt, but answered with a four-foot birdie putt at the par-3 sixth.
Meanwhile, Golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player backed Rory McIlroy as a solid pick to win the Masters after making ceremonial tee shots yesterday to open the year’s first major tournament.
Four-time major winner McIlroy needs only to win the Masters green jacket to complete a career Grand Slam and arrived after seven top-10 finishes to start the year, including a win at last month’s Players Championship.
“I think that Rory is playing probably better than anybody is playing right now,” Nicklaus said. If I were in Rory’s position, I would be looking at trying to win the Masters, not trying to finish a Grand Slam. To win the Masters, that’s enough to worry about.” McIlroy could become only the sixth player to complete the career Slam, joining a group that includes Player, Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
“It will be fantastic for him to win,” Player said. “If I had to pick somebody I would like to see win, Rory, because it would join the five of us and it would give golf a big boost. Whether he wins or not this week, he has the best swing in the field without a question.” Nicklaus says extra focus from sports and golf television and social media has made the task of completing a career Slam harder than in his day.
“When I won the British Open in ‘66, I don’t even recall anybody even mentioning it,” Nicklaus said, noting his wife Barbara would often toss the newspaper before he could read about himself.
Player was among those cheering on 14-time major winner Woods, a contender at last year’s British Open and PGA Championship in his return campaign after spinal fusion surgery.
“Everybody wants to see Tiger Woods win more majors because he moves the needle like nobody playing golf today,” Player said. “Everybody likes to see a man make a great comeback.”