5 attention-grabbing rounds on Thursday at Augusta

The Masters captivated the golf world once again on Thursday, kicking off the 86th playing of the event at Augusta National with an incredible day of action.

Tiger Woods' return to competition dominated the headlines, but several rounds drew attention - for both good and bad reasons.

Tiger Woods (71)

Woods currently sits tied for 10th on the leaderboard and not at No. 1, but there's no doubt that he was the winner of Day 1 at Augusta National.

Playing in front of some of the largest galleries we've ever seen at Augusta, the five-time champion made a highly successful return to competitive golf after 508 days with a 1-under 71.

Woods' round included three birdies, a near-ace on No. 6, and an excellent scrambling play after he missed 9-of-18 greens. He showed very few signs of physical discomfort in either his back or leg and seemed fairly pleased with his performance after Round 1.

Perhaps the best sign from Woods' play was how incredibly normal it seemed to watch him and not like the man was completing some sort of miracle with every single shot he hit. He will need that to continue on Friday in conditions expected to be firm and blustery.

That could play right into the 46-year-old's hands, though, as there's nobody better at flighting their golf ball in windy weather than the 15-time major winner.

And knowing that he averaged a 70.8 in the opening round of his five previous wins at the Masters could also keep Woods uplifted.

Cameron Smith (68)

Cameron Smith sure looked as though he was rusty on the first hole of the day after winning the Players Championship and taking a three-week layoff. The Australian star double-bogeyed the opening hole of the tournament, immediately falling off the pace.

That didn't last long, however. Smith summoned the form that saw him win at TPC Sawgrass, making eight birdies over his next 16 holes to head to No. 18 at 6-under.

But unfortunately for Smith, he would end the round like he started, making another double-bogey to finish at 4-under. Despite those two problem holes, the 28-year-old still did enough in the round to grab the second spot behind Sungjae Im.

Smith's performance over his last two rounds - on the iconic Augusta National and treacherous TPC Sawgrass, no less - shows that he arguably has more firepower at the moment than anybody on the PGA TOUR.

Sungjae Im (67)

Sungjae Im topping the leaderboard after Round 1 might shock some, but the 24-year-old shooting 67 or better comes as no surprise.

Im wasted no time announcing his intentions, opening his round with three straight birdies to fly up the leaderboard. He would add another on the 7th to shoot a blistering 32 on the first nine.

While he dropped off with bogeys on the difficult 10th and 11th holes, Im's majestic approach to the par-5 13th led to an eagle, righting the ship. After another birdie on the 15th, the South Korean native held the lead at 5-under.

Im made history with his score, as he's now the only man from his country to lead after any round of the Masters.

Rory McIlroy (73)

Rory McIlroy's inability to score during the opening round is one of the biggest reasons he's remained stuck on four major championships since 2014.

It's a shame because the 32-year-old certainly hasn't had that problem over Rounds 2-4 at those following majors.

McIlroy looked like he would put himself in excellent position to challenge for a long time on Thursday, heading to the reachable par-5 13th at 1-under.

However, two costly bogeys down the stretch erased that progress and saw him finish with a 1-over 73.

As the Twenty First Group's Justin Ray noted, 32 of the last 35 Masters winners shot par or better, and the last 16 champions sat tied for 11th or better after the opening round. McIlroy had the chance to accomplish both those things with a strong finish, but he instead faces yet another uphill climb in a major championship.

Justin Thomas (76)

There's no doubt Justin Thomas is one of the best golfers in the world, but the 2017 PGA Championship winner has yet to truly figure out Augusta National.

That issue was evident again in Round 1, as the World No. 7 made six bogeys en route to a 4-over 76. This is his sixth opening round with an over-par score at the Augusta in seven starts. The only time he broke par on his first 18 holes was in the fall Masters of 2020.

Thomas' approach numbers at the iconic layout have been sparkling over the years, but he's always struggled on the challenging putting surfaces. Adding Phil Mickelson's former caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay, on the bag should help him with that part of the game, but that has yet to show itself through 18 holes.