Spieth hits his stride on opening day at Augusta

Tiger Woods attracted most of the attention. Jordan Spieth caused the most concern.

Opening day at the Masters had a wide-open feel until Spieth hit his stride. He saved three straight pars with that superb short game. He ran off three straight birdies to take the lead. And then he fired an 8-iron at the pin on the par-3 16th, letting the club twirl through his hands as he walked away, knowing only that it was another good one. It plopped down 1.5m from the cup.

“You don’t know where it’s going to end up,” he said, “but you know it’s going to be in a good position.”

Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine. He made five straight birdies, a career best for him in the majors. Even a bogey on the final hole felt like a par the way he navigated out of the trees and limited damage with a pitch that stopped a whisker from going in.

That gave him a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Tony Finau and Matt Kuchar.

It was the eighth time in his last 13 rounds at the Masters that Spieth ended a round with the lead. Given his short history at Augusta National — a victory, two runner-up finishes and a tie for 11th — his name atop the leaderboard gets attention.

Ditto for Woods, except he has some catching up to do.

Woods failed to birdie any of the par 5s. He was under par one only one hole. He hit a 9-iron into Rae’s Creek. And only a pair of birdies over the last five holes enabled him to scratch out a 73 and at least stay in range, seven shots behind.

“Seventy-three is fine,” Woods said. “By the end of the week, this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up.”

It was just tough to score, with the greens slick and firm and several tough pin positions. That included the par-5 15th, and no one suffered quite like defending champion Sergio Garcia.

He hit his second shot into the water, and then had his next four shots with a wedge roll back into the water. He made a 3m putt — close to the same length of his eagle putt when he won last year — to make a 13, the highest score ever recorded on No 15. He wound up with an 81, the highest score in the opening round by a defending Masters champion.