The Masters: Moment to savour as 69 gives Paul Lawrie an early lead

PAUL Lawrie made his first round in The Masters since 2004 one to remember at Augusta National yesterday.

In five previous appearances at the event, the 43-year-old Scot had never managed an eagle and never broken 70.

But Lawrie changed all that and set the early clubhouse target with a three-under-par 69, although a closing bogey left him two off the lead with Swede Henrik Stenson reaching the turn in a sparkling 31.

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Aberdeen’s 1999 Open champion, who earned himself a return by climbing back into the world’s top 50 little more than a year after falling outside the top 270, broke his eagle duck at the 510-yard 13th – and then had to wait only two holes for his next one. That took him to three under – he had earlier three-putted the long eighth for a bogey 6 – and he then added a birdie on the 440-yard 17th before slipping up at the last.

“It’s not too often that I’ve had two eagles, so that was nice. I was disappointed in 18. The greens are in fantastic condition and rolling pretty well,” said the Scot, who has enjoyed a superb start to 2012. “This course is all about the speed and patience and I struggled with that on the front nine but then I got into it in the back nine.”

Lawrie’s 69 was later equalled by fellow Europeans Miguel Angel Jimenez and Francesco Molinari, while Louis Oosthuizen was threatening to join or surpass them as the South African reached the end of his round. Lee Westwood found himself leading The Masters again after Henrik Stenson crashed from six under par to one under in almost a blink of the eye on his 36th birthday.

While Westwood, making his 56th attempt to win a major, had four birdies in a row from the fifth and turned in 32, former Ryder Cup team-mate Stenson - spectacularly good for 15 holes - followed a three-putt bogey on the short 16th with a quadruple-bogey eight at the last.

In trouble off the tee, he then topped his third shot, went over the green, left his chip on the fringe and three-putted once more. The Swede was not the only one to hit trouble – Rory McIlroy’s return to the course started with a double bogey and world number one Luke Donald was faring even worse. Tiger Woods was one under with one hole remaining and Westwood led with nine to play before slipping back to sixth in 1999, and two years ago it was only an inspired closing 67 from Phil Mickelson - one over after six like McIlroy today - that denied him. “I hit some of the worst shots I’ve ever hit,” Woods admitted.

“It was some of my old stuff from a few years ago - every now and again it pops up.

“I just wanted to keep grinding and I hung in there. I maybe could have shot one or better, but I got a lot out of it.”

McIlroy’s hopes of making full amends for his closing 80 last April had taken an immediate nosedive. The 22-year-old Northern Irishman, who went from four ahead to 10 behind in the most harrowing experience of his young golfing life, came back to win the US Open by eight shots two months later.

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Yet he had still been asked about possible demons at Augusta earlier this week and he gave himself another bad memory by driving into the right-hand trees, failing to make it back to the fairway off the pine straw and then three-putting.

At least the second-ranked player in golf birdied the long next, but even after that a look at the leaderboard told him how much ground he already had to make up – although it became considerably fewer shots after Stenson’s late crash.

With two to play, Donald was four over and not even in the top 75 in a tournament featuring only 95 players after the injury withdrawals of Dustin Johnson and Mark O’Meara.

Four-time champion Woods, the pre-tournament favourite after winning at Bay Hill a fortnight ago, saved par from the left-hand trees on the first two holes - he had to take a penalty drop on the long second - and holed from nine feet for birdie at the third.

A birdie at the tenth took him to two under, but he missed out on birdies at the two inward par 5s. Through the green in two on the 13th, he failed to get up and down from the sand, while at 15 another drive left forced him to lay up short of the water. He then had another bogey on the 17th.

Sandy Lyle, the 1988 champion, now 54, toiled to the turn in a ten-over-par 46 and then double-bogeyed the 11th. Fellow Scot Martin Laird was four over with five to play,