Masters leaderboard 2015: Tiger Woods off to a shaky start, Rory McIlroy even

The first round of the 2015 Masters Tournament is in full swing with the afternoon wave now making its way around the famed track. That includes Tiger Woods, who is four holes into his first round following an extensive layoff. It’s been an up-and-down start for Woods, who is currently 1-over.

Woods missed the fairway on his opening shot, but hit a solid approach out of the rough to find the first green in regulation. He needed to two-putt from about 45 feet to open with a par, but a mediocre lag putt left him with work to do and he was unable to make the five-foot par putt. That caused him to drop a shot early and led to an early display of frustration.

While it wasn’t the start he was probably hoping for, Woods recovered quickly. He missed the fairway again at No. 2, but stuck an approach shot to about 4-feet and made the birdie putt to get back to even. Woods’ short game was in shambles the last time he played competitively in early February. It got its first test at No. 3 when he had about 25 yard to go after bombing a drive on the short Par-4, No. 3. It wasn’t as bad as some of the struggles he’d had previously, but Woods’ chip blew some 20 feet beyond the hole. He cleaned it up for a tap-in par.

His short game was tested again on No. 4 when his approach at the Par-3 found the bunker. Once again Woods had some issues, sending his shot out of the sand over the back of the green. He eventually made bogey to drop back to 1-over.

While Woods has the majority of his first round still to go, several other big names are a bit further along. Rory McIlroy entered the tournament as the betting favorite, but his first round has been a mixed bag. He started the tournament with five straight pars before dropping a shot at No. 6. He got the stroke right back at No. 7. Another bogey and another birdie on the back nine have McIlroy at even-par heading into his final four holes.

Phil Mickelson got off to a tremendous start with two birdies in his first three holes. He gave those strokes right back with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 6 and 7, before dipping back into the red with an eagle at No. 8. Mickelson’s approach at No. 8 might be the best we see at the hole all week, and it left a tap-in eagle.

Woods, McIlroy, Mickelson and everyone else are currently looking up at Charley Hoffman and Justin Rose. Both players carded 5-under rounds of 67 on Thursday to set the early pace. Jordan Spieth (2-under through 6) could challenge for the lead by the end of the day. Defending champion Bubba Watson shot a 1-under 71. Here is a snapshot at where the field stands. You can find a live leaderboard at Masters.com.