The first round of the Masters is in the books. Sungjae Im leads after Day One at Augusta National following a sensational five-under 67 in which he had five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. Cameron Smith, who is making his first start since winning last month's Players Championship and who tied for second at the Masters in 2020, is a stroke back.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, called the day a victory after an opening 71 that has him tied for 10th heading into Friday when he'll tee off at 1:41 p.m. ET.

Tiger Woods just broke Sam Snead’s record for PGA Tour victories — in his own mind, anyway. That’s right, for the first time in his incomparable career, Woods decided Thursday that he had won something just by showing up.

He has never been more right in his professional life. So if you’re keeping score at home, and if you subscribe to Woods’ dogma on his absurdly improbable comeback, that would be Tiger 83, Slammin’ Sammy 82.

Our Ian O'Connor chimes in from Augusta National... READ MORE

Harry Higgs, one of the most colorful personalities on the PGA Tour, wanted to clear a few things up after he posted a 1-under 71 in his first career Masters round Thursday.

When asked about being “from’’ Camden, N.J., which is where his PGA Tour bio states as his birthplace, Higgs sounded like someone who was ready to have his bio edited.

More on that, and other notes from Thursday's opening round from our Mark Cannizzaro... READ MORE

Sungjae Im was already making waves before the opening round of the Masters even began. Or at least his father was.

During the annual Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, Im's father, Ji Taek, produced a moment that he won't soon forget and one that went viral.

A day later, it was Sung Jae's turn. He birdied his first three holes, eagled the par-5 13th and shot to the top of the leaderboard. He currently holds a one-shot lead at five under with one hole left in his round. Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson are tied for second, while 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett is another stroke in fourth with Joaquin Niemann and newly minted world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is looking for his fourth win of 2022.

Tiger Woods, who opened with a 71, is tied for 10th, along with, among others, Rory McIlory, who is through 13 holes.

It was one round and there is a long way to go in the Masters. But to Tiger Woods this already felt like a measure of victory.

"Yes," he said, simply, when asked if his opening-round one-under 71 felt like the equivalent of a win. "If you would have seen how my leg looked to where it's at now, the pictures--some of the guys know, they've seen the pictures and they've come over to the house and they've seen it. To see where I've been, to see--to get from there to here, it was no easy task."

Neither was his round, playing and walking.

Woods hit just nine of 18 greens in regulation, forcing him to lean on his short game to stay in red numbers. He also played the par 5s in just even par.

"I'll start off with disappointment," he said when asked to assess his day. "Just making bogey from 50 yards on the eighth. Lack of concentration on the first one. Second one, lack of commitment. Then a blocked putt. So just three bad shots in a row."

But there were bright spots--he was two under on the par 3s. It was also his first official tournament since the 2020 Masters.

"To finish in the red today after as long a layoff as I've had and not being in competitive golf--I don't really consider a scramble in the [two-day, 36-hole] PNC--it is competitive, but it's not like this," he said. "This is totally different. But to play this golf course and to do what I did today, to hit the shots in the right spots--I know where to hit it to a lot of these pins, and I miss in the correct spots and give myself good angles. I did that all day, and I was able to make a few putts and end up in the red like I am now."

It helped, too, to get a boost from the massive gallery, which followed Woods' every move from start to finish.

"I noticed at the beginning there was a lot of people," Woods' playing partner Joaquin Niemann said. "I was trying to talk to my caddie on the [first] tee and I couldn't hear anything."

"The place was electric," said the five-time Masters champ Woods. "I hadn't played like this since '19 when I won because in '20 we had COVID and we had no one here, and I didn't play last year. ... To have that type of energy out there was awesome to feel."

Woods will surely feel it between now and his second round on Friday afternoon. Up next: An ice bath to help his ailing 46-year-old body recover.

"Lots of treatments. Lots of ice. Lots of ice baths," Woods said. "Just basically freezing myself to death. That's just part of the deal.

"I am as sore as I expected to feel, but it was amazing to have--like I was telling the team all week, come game time, it will be a different deal. My adrenaline will kick in. I'll get into my own little world, and I'll get after it."

So far, so good.

What did the scene look like as Tiger Woods made his way around Augusta National for Thursday's opening round of the Masters? Here's a look.

Tiger Woods shot a one-under 71 in the first round of the Masters on Thursday, putting him in solid position and just three off the early lead as much of the field struggled with windy conditions at Augusta National.

Less than 14 months removed from a frightening car crash, Woods showed few, if any, signs of the severe leg injury that had kept him off the PGA Tour for 14 months in walking the hilly course. He was masterful around the greens most of the day, getting up-and-down to save par on multiple occasions. READ MORE

Tiger Woods got a good break when a tree left of the 18th fairway knocked down his errant drive. Then he got another one when he got relief from casual water in the area after rain soaked Augusta National overnight. The bad news was his tee shot went less than 200 yards and he had to lay up on the closing par 4.

Still, there was an opening--with Cameron Smith having doubled the final hole ahead of Woods, a par by Woods would leave him just three off the lead, something that seemed unfathomable a few months ago much less 13 months ago.

And he did just that.

Faced with a tricky 70 yard pitch to a back right pin, Woods hit an approach that danced toward the hole, taking one hop and spinning back toward the flag before settling 10 feet away. Then he made the putt for par to finish with one-under 71.

It marks the 11th time in Woods' career that he has shot under par in the opening round. On four of those occasions, he has gone on to win.

All things considered, it has been a solid start for Tiger Woods, who is one under on the day after a two-putt par from 20 feet on 17.

And it's actually been a little better than that, at least judging by one prediction.

IBM's Watson computer, which the Masters uses for various data and stat functions on its website, had projected an opening round 74 for Woods. As he teed off on 18--a drive that landed in the trees--it only puts that probability at 58 percent.

Meanwhile, Australia's Cameron Smith is in position to do something that hasn't been done at the Masters in more than two decades.

The 28-year-old reigning Players champion is seeking to become the first player since Dennis Paulson in 2000 to open the tournament with a double bogey but end the day leading it, per Twenty First Group's Justin Ray.

Since that opening-hole disaster, Smith has bounced back with an impressive heater, rattling off eight birdies in a 12-hole stretch to grab the lead, highlighted by a chip-in for birdie at No. 5 and near-ace on No. 6 to set up a tap-in birdie.

Missed opportunities on the par 5s, yes, not so much on the par 3s.

Tiger Woods just birdied the 16th hole, knocking in a 24-foot right-to-left swinger. The crowd roared on the picturesque hole and Woods reacted with a fist pump.

It also moves him to two under on the par 3s for the day--he was just even on the par 5s--and one under for the tournament. Given where Woods was coming back from, it's certainly been an impressive performance, one made more so by the fact he has hit just nine greens in regulation.

After missing to the left with his tee shot and making bogey on 14, Tiger Woods again tugged his tee shot on the par-5 15th. With the flag on the right side of the green, the left side of the hole provides the ideal angle, but Woods pulled the shot and the ball trundled into the crowd.

That forced him into a laying up on the final par 5 of the day, but then he went left with his next shot, too. Woods was bailed out with a clear look at the green, and he avoided the tree left of the pond short of the green but making birdie from there would be asking a lot.

Woods knocked his approach to just outside 30 feet and under the hole--a prevailing and positive theme throughout the day--but he left the attempt just short. Another par.

If there's one thing that won't sit well with Woods from today it's that he played the par 5s in even par. Over his career, Woods came into Thursday a collective 172 under on Augusta National's par 5s. That works out to just over averaging two under per round.