Woods four back as Im sets Masters pace

Sungjae Im holds a narrow lead over Cameron Smith after the opening round of The Masters, as Tiger Woods impressed on his return to competitive action.

Im birdied his opening three holes and added another at the par-four seventh, before bouncing back from starting his back nine with successive bogeys to eagle the par-five 13th and pick up another shot at the par-five 15th to set the pace at Augusta National.

The Korean's five-under 67 moved him one ahead of Smith, making his first start since winning The Players, who held the initial clubhouse target despite starting and finishing his opening-round 68 with double-bogeys.

Smith carded four birdies in a five-hole stretch from the fifth and produced a similar run from the 12th, briefly taking him two clear, before the late error dropped the Australian - one of six players who can end the week as world No 1 - into second spot.

"Just stayed patient," Smith said. "I love this place. I know it presents plenty of birdies. I just really had to get in a groove. I hit a great drive down the second and went into the bunker, which again was quite frustrating.

"After probably the fourth or fifth hole there, started getting on a bit of a trot and started seeing those good iron shots go pretty close."

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World No 1 Scottie Scheffler held a share of the lead alongside Smith until cancelling out his penultimate-hole birdie with a final-hole bogey, with 2016 champion Danny Willett also on three under after carding the lowest opening round of his Masters career.

Joaquin Niemann posted a hole-out eagle from the ninth fairway to also get within two of the lead, while 2020 champion Dustin Johnson completes the quartet on