Masters 2013: Leaderboard, live updates and more from Thursday’s round at Augusta

All 93 players are now in the clubhouse at Augusta National, and it’s Marc Leishman and Sergio Garcia who hold the first round lead at 6-under. Leishman set the pace early in the day, and the benign scoring conditions continued throughout the afternoon as Garcia came around to match. Leishman did his damage coming into the clubhouse, adding birdies on the final four holes to get to 6-under. Garcia, on the other hand, did most of his work on the front side, going out in 32 and then adding two more birdies on the back side to take a share of the clubhouse lead. It wast just the second bogey-free round for Sergio at the Masters, and as is always the case with the Spaniard, his tenuous grip atop the leaderboard could come undone at any moment on Friday.

Chasing Garcia and Leishman is a long list of loaded names, but Dustin Johnson separated himself at 5-under. The long-hitting South Carolinian took advantage of the par-5s on Sunday, momentarily moving into a share of the 6-under lead at the par-5 15th. He dropped a shot on No. 17 to move back to 5-under, but it was still his best round ever at Augusta National. Johnson may be the most talented of all the young players on tour, but he has repeatedly slipped up at the majors, making mental mistakes or simply washing out by the weekend.

After a few speed bumps coming into the clubhouse, Tiger Woods finished his opening round at the 2013 Masters with a 2-under round of 70.

Tiger started his round with some characteristic wildness off the tee, hitting a fan and a beer cup on Nos. 2 and 3. But he avoided bogey on the first nine, opening with five straight pars, making it up on and around the green. Woods finally picked up his first birdie of the day at No. 6, firing a dart into the accessible pin. That was backed up by a birdie on the par-5 eighth, making up for a missed chance at No. 2. Turning in 34 with ample birdie opportunities ahead, it looked like Tiger would make a charge to the top of the leaderboard.

It took less than an hour of live-coverage for Jim Nantz to go all possessed and whatnot. This wasn’t really his fault, but it made my hairs stand up and caused me to do a double-take.

And you know, I kind of like Nantz like this. It seems to prove that he really is a robot announcer, and one day the “Hello friends” clip is going to be stuck for like an hour, scaring us all to death.

Tiger Woods is in contention at the 2013 Masters, although a few missed opportunities have him a few strokes back of the leaders with two holes to play.

More: Complete 2013 Masters coverage

After two holes-in-one yesterday at the Par-3 Contest, we now have our first hole-in-one at the 2013 Masters. And the honor goes to Jamie Donaldson of Wales. Donaldson fired the hole-in-one at No. 6, which is one of the more difficult par-3s to ace at Augusta National. It also has a significantly elevated tee box, allowing players to fire their approach high into the air and drop it right on top of the flagstick. That’s exactly what Donaldson did early on Thursday:

The shot was comparable to the one from Tiger Woods, with both players taking aim at the accessible pin. Tiger, however, had to “settle” for a short birdie putt.

Tiger Woods has navigated Amen Corner, and through the first 13 holes of his opening round, he still has yet to card a bogey. The No. 1 player in the world is 3-under, and three shots off the lead held by Marc Leishman.

After some misses off the tee early, Tiger has played a clean nine-hole stretch, moving into the red and picking up birdies at the two par-5s (Nos. 8 and 13). He started the second nine with a basic par at No. 10, putting his drive down the hill, and an approach shot in the center of the green for an easy two putts. At the start of Amen Corner, he needed to drain a four-foot putt to save par, and he had little trouble putting the slight wobbler in the middle of the cup. The 11th is always a potential blow-up hole, but Tiger has encountered little trouble since the first five holes.

The top of the Masters leaderboard is starting to get crowded with big names, but Marc Leishman is currently leading the way. Leishman is 6-under through 16 holes, good enough for a one-stroke lead.

Leishman opened his round with a bogey at No. 1 and was even-par through seven holes. Since that point, however, Leishman has gone on a run with six birdies in his last nine holes. He surged into the lead with four-straight birdies at No. 13, No. 14, No. 15 and No. 16. While Leishman is the leader on the course, David Lynn is the leader in the clubhouse. Lynn shot an opening round 68 to post 4-under.

Hello Internet. The Final Four is over, the NBA and NHL playoffs aren’t here quite yet, and baseball has totally been fun for an entire week but I’d be okay with not paying attention to it again until August. Alarmingly, it’s now the point of the year where I can no longer easily make fun of college towns and their food, so we’ll have to look elsewhere for merriment. Right now, it’s Masters time again, and that means I get to tackle Georgia. I will admit, I’ve watched maybe four rounds of golf in my life, mostly when the US Open was in Pittsburgh, but I’ve seen enough highlights on SportsCenter to confidently talk about it. Here is what happens at The Masters:

1. Tiger Woods hits a ball.

1. Jim Nantz opens every broadcast with “Hello, friends,” and if you learn one thing by living in a sketchy large city, it is that someone who addresses you as “friend” isn’t one and should be avoided. Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot, Jim. You are just trying to be friendly, and I am expecting you to either ask me to attend your megachurch or to distract me while I am robbed on foot by your partner. (In your case, that could be Phil Simms, who would hold the gun backward and accept an expired hotel room key as my “credit card.”)

2. Maybe we don’t get along for other reasons. You are bland, predictable, and as literal as a Billy Joel song title.

It’s been slow-going for Tiger Woods at the 2013 Masters as his group moves slowly through the front nine. While a few players were able to get into the red early, Woods has yet to record a birdie, but sits at even-par through five holes.

Woods pulled out his 3-wood on No. 1 and drilled a perfect tee shot. He had a birdie opportunity right off the bat, but was unable to capitalize as he missed a 15-foot birdie putt and was forced to settle for a par. The par-5 second hole is traditionally one of the easier holes on the course, but Woods once again was forced to settle for a par.

Ian Woosnam, bless his heart, continues to cash in on the lifetime invitation he holds to the Masters after winning the green jacket in 1991. Woozy is often a solid bet to finish near the bottom of the leaderboard these days, and he’s taken up residence there early on Thursday. But that doesn’t mean the five-foot Welshman hasn’t created the highlight of the tournament so far (hover to animate):

Poor Woozy.

Tiger Woods is now out on the course at Augusta National, and the four-time Masters winner is even-par through his first two holes. It’s been slow-going at the start, with the 10:45 tee time needing 40 minutes just to get to the third tee.

Tiger, who had the honor on the first tee, pulled three-wood and blasted a cut down the fairway. The 3-wood cut is about as reliable a shot in Tiger’s arsenal, and it came as no surprise he put it right in the middle. The first is a gettable hole, with several players in the early morning groups opening with a red number. Tiger, however, missed a 15-foot putt for birdie and had to settle with an opening par.

The first round of the 2013 Masters is underway and there is a familiar name atop the leaderboard. Jim Furyk is off to a hot start on the front nine and currently holds a one-stroke lead.

Furyk is currently 4-under through eight holes, one stroke ahead of David Lynn who is 3-under through 11. Furyk got off to a quick start with a birdie on No. 3 after two pars to open his round. Following pars at No. 4 and No. 5, he carded three-straight birdies at No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8. Lynn started his round with a birdie at No. 1 before recording a par on his next six holes. He moved to 3-under after birdies at No. 8 and No. 9, but gave one back with a bogey at the 10th. Lynn didn’t waste any time getting the stroke back with a birdie at No. 11.

During his annual pre-Masters press conference in 2012, the chair of Augusta National Golf Club turned himself inside out under his green jacket in machinations designed, successfully, to stonewall reporters intent on wresting a response about why the golf club refused to accept women members.

Wednesday, on the eve of the 2013 Masters Tournament, while two women have been fitted for those frumpy viridian blazers, the world that Billy Payne governs had -- if not exactly flipped upside down since the admittance last August of Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore into the formerly exclusively all-male enclave -- definitely evolved.

The first tee-shots at Augusta National Golf Club have been struck to open the 2013 Masters, and a flurry of players are already under par on Thursday.

PGA Tour veterans Brian Gay and Carl Pettersson lead the charge at 2-under, followed by six players one shot back at 1-under. Included in that group is England’s Justin Rose, South Africa’s Tim Clark and golf legend -- and former Masters winner -- Tom Watson.

A cold front will bring a chance showers and storms to Augusta National Golf Club for the first two rounds of the Masters. While rain is likely late Thursday into early Friday, the impact on the Master should be fairly minimal because of the timing of these showers and storms.

While the cold front is not expected to cross Augusta, Georgia until late Thursday night, early Friday morning clusters and cells of thunderstorms are possible in the late afternoon and early evening. These will be more of the hit or miss variety but a storm or two could threaten Augusta National with winds, rain and lightning for the groups that go out later in the day. Some of these storms have the potential to be severe with damaging winds, hail and even a small chance of an isolated tornado. The storm prediction center has most of the Southeastern United States in a Slight Risk for severe weather today and tonight.