2023 Masters: Hovland, Rahm and Koepka share lead at Augusta, but Tiger Woods could be fighting to avoid cut
- Trio shoot matching 7-under 65s, finishing day 2-shots clear of Cameron Young and Jason Day
- Second round tee times moved forward 30 minutes as weekend storms threaten first Monday finish since 1983
Norway’s Viktor Hovland, Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Brooks Koepka shared the first-round lead at the Masters on Thursday, taking advantage of easier-than-usual conditions to card seven-under-par 65s.
Rain in recent days has softened Augusta National, making the often rapid and challenging greens much more benign, and the trio seized a two-stroke lead over American Cameron Young and Australian Jason Day.
Favourite, defending champion and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler was one of seven players sitting three strokes behind the leaders after shooting 68.
But five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods looked more likely to be fighting to avoid the cut than for the title after he shot a two-over par 74 in a round that included five bogeys.
Hovland, who was playing in the same group as Woods and Shauffele, got off to a flying start with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, where he followed up a brilliant iron shot with a 25-foot putt.
Further birdies came on the ninth, 11th and 13th holes, but the Norwegian was less tidy in the final five, finding himself in trouble on the par-5 15th, where he went far to the left but was able to scramble to make par as he ensured he finished bogey free.
