AUGUSTA, Georgia - European Ryder Cup hero David Howell found himself sharing the early lead when the storm-hit Masters finally got underway here on Thursday.
Howell, making his Augusta debut, teed off five and a half hours late after a severe thunderstorm moved through the area, flooding parts of the course and causing power failures.
Spectators were barred from entering the grounds, having to spend hours in their cars, waiting for the all clear to be given.
Organisers were forced to use the first and 10th tees to cut down the delays caused by the storm.
The 29-year-old Howell, in the first group of the day going off the first, parred the first three holes before going one-under par.
He promptly gave a shot back at the fifth but then dropped the most unlikely of birdies on the tricky 180-yard par-3 sixth.
Howell put his tee shot off the back of the green and down a steep bank but then sank his pitch.
David Duval, who has been in a tail-spin since his British Open win in 2001, was also an early leader on one-under.
After opening with a rock-solid par, he went into red figures on the 575-yard par-5 second when he blasted his third shot out of a greenside bunker to 10 feet and sank the putt.
He had a chance to move to two-under on the third but missed a 10-foot birdie putt.
Playing partner Paul Casey, who finished sixth here last year in his first appearance at the Masters, was all over the course and after four holes was two over.
Veteran Craig Stadler, who won the green jacket in 1982, was also on the leaderboard when he birdied the second.
American Jeff Maggart put himself at two-under after six holes to be the early leader.
Billy Casper, playing in his final Masters, must have been wondering why he bothered to play this year.
He opened with back-to-back triple bogeys and was eight over par after only six holes.
The pre-tournament favourites - Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and defending champion Phil Mickelson - were amongst the late starters and will be lucky to complete their first round before darkness falls.
04/07/2005 19:21 GMT