A disastrous front nine has put Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox well behind the pace in the 90th Masters tournament – as reigning champion Rory McIlroy shares the lead with Sam Burns at 5-under.
Fox bogeyed the first two holes of his round at Georgia's Augusta National after some wayward shots off the tee, while poor approach shots cost him three more shots in the latter half of the nine.
Making the turn 5-over thru 9, the disappointing trajectory of his round looked set to continue with another bogey at the 10th.
He then managed to stabilise, going bogey-free for the remaining eight holes, even recording a birdie at the 17th.
After playing the back nine at even par, Fox finished the first round of his third Masters with a 5-over 77, tied for 65th.
Meanwhile, reigning champion McIlroy was in a two-way tie for lead, shooting a 5-under 67 along with American Burns.
The Northern Irishman beat Englishman Justin Rose in a two-way playoff at last year's Masters to complete his career grand slam. He became one of only six golfers to have won all four major titles.
Also near the top of the leaderboard after the first round are Jason Day of Australia, and Americans Kurt Kitayama and Patrick Reed, all at 3-under par.
Fox will tee off at 12.26am Saturday NZ time as he looks to change his fortunes and make it to the weekend.
He has made the cut in both of his previous appearances, in 2023 and 2024, with a best finish of T-26.
He was chasing selection for the Presidents Cup team, currently seventh in the Presidents Cup rankings, with the top six players automatically qualifying for the international side.
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