It was a tale of two opposite nine holes for Jason Day at
The Masters in round one.

Day got Aussie fans cheering early, an eagle on the par-5 second igniting the World Number One’s round.

From there it looked like Day was going to produce a special round of golf. He added a further three birdies to his card at the 5^th, 8^th and 9^th to make the turn in 31 strokes.

Heading to the back-9, Day was just one shot back from Jordan Spieth who posted a bogey-free 6-under 66 to be the clubhouse leader.

The first sign of trouble for Day showed on the 10^thwhere he made his first bogey of the day, however he recovered with a birdie at the 13^th.

Day’s round really unravelled at the 15^th where he made a bogey, quickly followed by a triple at 16 and another bogey at 17.

He dropped five shots in three holes and went from being in contention and challenging Spieth’s lead to shooting an even par first round.

While others might be discouraged to see their name sitting at T21, after it had been so high on the leaderboard, Day remained positive, a testament to his steely mindset.

"I played great up until 15 green, I got out of position the last four holes, it could happen to anyone," said Day.

"Obviously it’s frustrating but I’m not too disappointed because I felt like I played well for the most part in tough conditions."

"We are going to have a tough day tomorrow and Saturday with wind conditions so I just have to keep pushing forward."

"Even though I gave up five shots in three holes I am only six back. If I can play the way I did early in my round over the next three days then I know I can catch up."

No other Aussie fared better than Day at Augusta National in the opening round.

Victorian Marc Leishman and Queenslander Cameron Smith each fired rounds of 2-over 74 in challenging swirling winds and are now T44 on the leaderboard.

For 22-year-old Smith, he was happy with his debut round at Augusta National which featured three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 3^rd.

"I had a rough start, but I’m very proud of the way I hung in there," said Smith.

2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott didn’t start his campaign for a second green jacket the way he would have liked. A 4-over 74 sees him sitting well down the leaderboard at tied 59^th.

"Today when I wasn’t on the perfect number, I wasn’t sharp enough with my iron play. That was leaving me too much work to do on the greens, probably two of the putts that I had, were not two putt-able," said Scott.

"Disappointing looking at the four par-5’s today, not one birdie. If I could have capitalised on them and limited the damage a bit, 2-over on a tough day with a good start tomorrow you feel like you’re back under-par."

"But I have some work to do on the front-9 to pull myself back, the mission tomorrow will be to get back to par or better, and then I’ll still think I am in good shape."

Steven Bowditch continues to battle a wrist injury and posted 7-over 79 in his opening round at The Masters to be tied 77^th.

He wasn’t the only world class player to find Augusta National a brutal challenge on Thursday. Rickie Fowler posted an 80 while Ernie Els six putted the first hole to also end his day on the same number.

While no Aussies are currently inside the top-10, New Zealander Danny Lee fired an impressive round of 4-under 68 to be T2 with Irishman Shane Lowry.

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