Bendigo golfer Lucas Herbert is two-over par after the first round of the 2022 Masters.
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The 26-year-old started his competitive debut round at Augusta National with an even-par front-nine.
Herbert was one-under through eight holes, thanks to a birdie on the par-five second.
He found the left edge of the fairway off the tee on the second hole but then left his approach to the green short left to leave himself a challenging downhill wedge shot over a bunker.
After nailing his approach to within eight feet he was left with a downhill right to left putt that went straight in.
He made par on the next six holes before encountering trouble on the par-four ninth.
Herbert's tee shot swayed to the left into a group of the course's iconic pine trees and was then followed by a missed approach which landed in the green side gallery.
To set himself up for a par putt he then had to chip back across the green with the result ending up as a seven foot putt.
The par putt then just missed to leave a tap in bogey - making the turn at even-par.
The back-nine started with two pars before Augusta grit its teeth on the iconic par-three 12th.
Herbert's tee shot came up short and spun back into the water and he was then required to take a penalty drop that was followed by a second approach that landed in the green side bunker.
He then played a classy shot out of the sand which ended up a few feet past the hole to leave himself a short putt for a double-bogey.
He followed up the double with a birdie on the par-five 13th.
Off the tee he landed in another pine tree area to the right of the fairway and then chased it up with an approach that landed just shy of the green with 15 feet still to the hole.
He was able to chip his next shot close to leave him a simple left to right birdie putt.
The hard work was then undone with another bogey on the par-four 14th, but then closed out the round with four pars to end the day at two-over par 74. (T43).
What Herbert had to say after the round
Upon reflection of his opening round, Herbert was thrilled to finally be in action on one of the sport's most iconic courses.
"It was just interesting to see how it all plays in the tournament," he said.
"Yeah, just a very cool experience at the same time as being quite nice.
"Just get out there and play some golf around here and keep a scorecard in your pocket on some of these crazy greens and holes."
In addition to the challenging par-72 layout, players also had to contend with strong winds that were swirling across the course.
"I hit a shot on 12 that I thought I hit it probably 150 yards, and it's going 135 maybe, and you're sort of like how does that come up so short? Then all of a sudden, you feel the gust come in your face," Herbert said.
"It was tricky to commit, tricky to trust that those winds are going to be what you're predicting.
"I can see why the hype about this place being so tricky to pick the wind is real."
As any professional knows, there is one part of golf that matters the most, it's what happens on the putting green.
Despite battling wind off the tee and on approaches, Herbert was pleased with his game on the green during his debut competitive round at Augusta.
"I had the greens pretty well under control," he said.
"The speed wasn't great, but it sort of feels like the first time out here it's very hard to get the greens, to figure out which way some of these putts are breaking.
"I picked a few putts, a few lines that were quite tricky, so I was pretty proud of that.
"Just proud of sort of battling away. I'm not too far away. I think four or five-under might be leading.
"If you play well tomorrow morning (round two), and you're not that far away again."
He will start the second round seven shots behind round one leader Sungjae Im (-5) who is followed closely by fellow Australian Cameron Smith (-4).
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