Jonas Blixt was delighted to post a two under par 70 on his Masters Tournament debut, although admitted he was a little heart-broken after a bogey at the last.
The 29 year old swede had five birdies and two bogeys in an eventful front nine at Augusta National, and took the lead with another gain at the 13th.
But a bogey at the 15th cost him the lead and Blixt’s putt at the last horseshoed out to leave him two behind early clubhouse leader Bill Haas at Augusta National.
“A little heartbreaker, because it was kind of moving towards the middle and at the end it turned a little left and caught the lip and went back,” said Blixt, who finished fifth in last season’s US PGA Championship.
“I made a lot of putts today, too, so I can't really be too angry about it.
“It would have been nice to shoot until the 60s out here, but I could have easily made double on seven and got a good break there. And I made a couple of putts just to stay in it. It would have been nice to be in the 60s, but I'm okay with it.”
No debutant has won the year’s first Major since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but Blixt intends to keep attacking.
“The thing is you never know what's going to happen tomorrow,” he added. “I feel like I can shoot really low out here. And I really like the golf course the way it sets up, but you could also have a really awful day when you catch all the bad breaks.
“The golf has been harder and harder. You have to be focusing on every single shot. Every single shot can be the best shot of your life and every single shot can be the worst shot of your life, so you really have to stay focused.
“It's wonderful to just be here and walk around here. It's such a great surrounding and acoustics and everything is just a cool, special feeling.”
