Lee Westwood leads Masters after wild opening round

The first major of the year was not short of drama, suspense, low scores and big numbers at Augusta National during the opening round of the Masters.

After Luke Donald had a disqualification scare, and Henrick Stenson; the early leader's, snowman on the finishing hole. It was England's Lee Westwood who came on top of the leader board after round one.

Westwood came into the Masters ranked No. 3 in the Official World Golf Rankings. And one of many players with the dubious honor of the label, 'Best player without a major'.

After carding an opening round score of five-under, 67. He is trying once again to shake that label.

When asked after his round, if he felt like his game was ready to compete at Augusta. Westwood had this to say.

"Yeah, I've been playing well all year. I've played well in the bigger tournaments and around the tougher golf courses like the Honda. So I was pretty confident."

"But trying not to let myself get carried away or anything. I just wanted to come out today and start steady and strong and play my way into the tournament, which I've done."

The two-time PGA Tour winner began the day with a par at the first. Which normally would seem like nothing to brag about. However, at Augusta today, the opening hole played as one of the toughest.

A birdie on No. 2 would get him to one-under quickly.

Though a bogey on No. 4 would move Westwood back to even par on his round. He would go on a tear over his next four holes.

Starting at No. 6, the Englishman went on a birdie-fest with four straight circles on his card. Making the turn at 32.

From No. 5 through the turn, Westwood carded nothing higher than a four on his card.

A slip on the par-four 10th. He would give his last stroke back to the course.

Westwood would add two more birdies on No. 13 and No. 17 to card his five-under, 67. Which equalled his best score ever at Augusta National, takes the 18 hole lead at The Masters.

He leads Louis Oosthuizen and Peter Hansen by one.

A group of six players at three-under, including; Paul Lawrie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Fransesco Molinari, Ben Crane, Jason Dufner and Bubba Watson.

"There's still a lot of world‑class players there," Westwood continued after his round. "And a lot of them playing well, and majors are hard to win as it is. I'm going to have to play as good if not better than I did today to carry on in the position I'm in and keep playing like I'm playing."