Does not have prayer round Amen Corner
where I got a couple of standing ovations.
“The way everyone has been to be so warm over my fight to come back, I’m at a loss for words for most of the time. I’m grateful to be back playing.”
Fleetwood, playing in only his second Masters, coped well with the level of attention around the group.
“It’s kind of a different atmosphere around Augusta and around the Masters and then with Tiger on top of this it’s a great experience to have,” he said.
“When you’re playing you feel so fixated on your own thing, 95 per cent of the time you actually don’t take it all in but when you do it’s lovely.”
On a day when anything under par was a rarity, 55-year-old Vijay Singh was one of the elite, posting a 71. Paul Casey shot a two-over 74, one better than Matt Fitzpatrick and 2016 champion Danny Willett.
English amateur Harry Ellis, from Hampshire, shot an eye-watering 84 on his Augusta debut.
“I felt good but I just didn’t execute and that’s the story.
“A lot of people around the world will be looking at the score – and it eats at me – but it doesn’t really matter to me right now,” said Ellis.
“From where I’ve come from to be stepping on the first tee at the Masters as an amateur, which I think is more unique as an amateur, I’m very proud of that and no one can take that away from me.
“I’m pretty tough inside and tomorrow I’ll try and do my best to rebound.”