Good Start for Watson as Woods Tees Off in Masters

Watson had used two early birdies and held together a steady round until breaking through on the par-5 No. 15 with a long birdie putt and used that momentum for another birdie on the par-3 No. 16.

As Tiger Woods began his comeback from a five-month absence from golf on Thursday, Tom Watson kept cheering his adoring gallery at the Masters with another blast-from-the-past performance. Watson grabbed the early lead with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and a final dramatic one on No. 18 to give him a first-round 67 and a one-shot lead on the field.

Lee Westwood, through 16 holes, and Y.E. Yang, through 13, were one shot back at minus-4. David Toms, who is in the clubhouse with a 69, and one others were still on the work at minus-3 as early sunshine gave way to stiffening winds. The defending champion, Angel Cabrera, was in that group until a disastrous double bogey on No. 15 dropped him to minus-1.

All eyes, though, were on Woods, who teed off at 1:42 p.m. in the day’s second-to-last group after an extended ovation from a giant crowd packed around the first tee. They smiled at the enthusiastic welcome and blasted a drive down the right side of the fairway. They parred the first hole.

Also sitting at minus-3 is Ernie Els, Paul Casey, Francesco Molinari and John Rollins, who had played only two holes.

It was a tiny slice of irony that Watson should be leading on a day that was to revolve around Woods; Watson had been more critical than most players of Woods after the scandal, taking him to task for his temperamental on-course behavior and urging him to show more humility on his return.