England’s Justin Rose had moved to the top of the board at 4-under with a torrid stretch of eagle-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie from holes 8-13 in the late afternoon playing with Shane Lowry who was at even par through 13 holes.

“It’s my 10th year, but I’ve never seen the greens so firm and fast,” said Matsuyama. “So it was like a new course for me playing today, and I was fortunate to get it around well. It was very important to hit your second shot on the proper side of the pin, and I was able to do that. I felt very good about my round today.

McIlroy, however, continued his recent troubles resulting in a 4-over 76 — outside the top 60 in the 88-man field and needing another second-round rally to make the cut.

McIlroy inadvertently hit his father Gerry with a wayward shot as he battled tough conditions. McIlroy was already two over par when he pushed his approach to the seventh hole to the right of the green, where it bounced and caught his father on the back of the leg. It was another frustrating day for the Holywood golfer.

“It doesn’t feel any different than it’s felt the last few weeks,” he said. “It’s just me trying to work through things, and even if it’s a major or not, it’s a golf tournament and you approach it the same and you just try to go out there and play the best round that you can.” 

In November, McIlroy shot 75 in the easiest first round in Masters history but battled back to play the final 54 holes in 14-under to finish T5.

McIlroy never looked comfortable from the jump, scrambling for some early pars before his mixture of erratic drives, imprecise irons and some poor short putts added up to six bogeys in a nine-hole stretch from Nod. 5-13. He delivered approach shots into water hazards on 11 and 13.

His only birdies came on the par-5 eighth and 15th holes.

“I mean, my goal is to play well and at least give myself a chance,” McIlroy said. “I mean, honestly I’m quite encouraged with how I hit it on the way in.

I hit some loose shots out there, but after hitting the 6-iron in the water on 13, I hit some really good shots coming in, so I’m encouraged by that.

“It was just one of those days where I wasn’t very efficient with my scoring. I open with four pars and then you’re going through that stretch and it’s like, ‘OK, it if you make bogey then you’re fighting against momentum, but if you make a birdie then you can get going’ — just one of those days.

“Could have made a couple more birdies, but it’s not as if anyone is going really low out there. Do a little bit of practice and hopefully feel a little more comfortable tomorrow, go out there and shoot a good one.” 

Despite facing much tougher course conditions than November when Dustin Johnson set the course record winning score at 20-under, the players had no complaints with the challenges — which aren’t likely to get easier as the forecast for the weekend has improved regarding precipitation. Balls were no longer plugging into a soft course as they did five months ago, and the resulting bounces and rollouts demanded precision and patience.

“This is the way it should be or is usually the case in April,” said two-time champion Bernhard Langer, who managed to shoot 74 despite being 63 years old. ”It’s a better time of the year because the overseed has had plenty of time to take root, and the course is magnificent.”

Former US Open and Players champion Webb Simpson was among the early finishers at 2-under 70 along with 2018 champion Patrick Reed, PGA Tour rookie Will Zalatoris, and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout making only his second Masters start.

“It’s huge, especially when we have a golf course like this,” Simpson said of getting off to a solid start despite leaving some opportunities to score better.

“Today’s a day where I think there’s going to be some high scores. Guys are going to shoot themselves out of the golf tournament on day one.

I knew it would be tough today. I didn’t know we’d be dealing with gusty winds like we were. But I’m very happy. I don’t think we’ll see guys kind of run away with it today at all.”

Dustin Johnson seemed poised to extend his record streak of consecutive rounds under par to 12 when he made it through Amen Corner at 1-under par. But he made a hash of the par-3 16th for bogey and a closing double bogey at 18 to shoot 2-over.

“The greens are always challenging and the wind, too,” Johnson said.

Brooks Koepka arrived at Augusta to play despite recent knee surgery that threatened to sideline him. He rallied after making four birdies in the first five holes on the back nine to make a pair of birdies at 15 and 16 to shoot 74.

World No 3 Jon Rahm of Spain, who didn’t arrive to Augusta until Wednesday after the birth of his first child, shot even-par 70 along with Xander Schauffele, Kevin Kisner, Cameron Champ, and Michael Thompson.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry made the turn at 2-under before making double on 10 after hooking his drive into an unplayable lie.

McIlroy was not alone in struggling with conditions.

Lee Westwood shot a scruffy 78 and Sergio Garcia 76, while prominent contenders Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day, Billy Horschel, and Matt Kuchar were all working on rounds of 4-over or worse late in the afternoon.