AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth stepped up for one last putt, nothing more than a tap-in really.

Suddenly, he backed away.

This one was important. It meant history.

After taking his time, Spieth knocked in a short par putt on the 18th hole Friday to claim the 36-hole scoring record at the Masters, breaking a mark that has stood for nearly four decades.

Raymond Floyd reached the midway point of the 1976 Masters with a 131 on the way to an eight-stroke victory.

Spieth did him one better, posting a 14-under 130 that has included 15 birdies and only one bogey through the first two days.

“That’s really cool,” said Spieth, who shot a 6-under 66 on the heels of an opening 64. “It’s cool anytime when you set a record, but to do it here is pretty awesome.”

The 21-year-old Texan was blowing away everyone in the field except Charley Hoffman, and even he faced a rather daunting five-shot deficit after shooting 68.

Normally, Hoffman’s 135 at the midway point would be good enough for the lead.

Not the way Spieth was playing.

“I feel really good this week,” the leader said. “I’m not very nervous.”

Spieth gave a glimpse of his enormous potential a year ago at Augusta, leading on the final day with a chance to become the youngest champion in Masters history. He faded down the stretch, settling for the runner-up spot behind Bubba Watson but leaving no doubt that golf had a budding new star.

Spieth arrived this year on top of his game, having won, finished second, and lost in a playoff in his last three events before the Masters.

“Last year and the momentum from the last few weeks, I’ve been kind of on my game and feeling really good about coming to a place that I love, that everybody loves,” Spieth said. “It’s special. It’s special to be in the tournament, let alone out front.”

Spieth had a 7-foot birdie try at the final hole for a 129. He misread the break and watched it slide past the left side of the cup on the slick Augusta greens.

He initially went up to tap it in, standing awkwardly so he wouldn’t step in the line of playing partner Henrik Stenson, who still had a short putt of his own.

Then, Spieth backed away, marked his ball and waited for Stenson to finish before knocking his in for the record.

“I was a little outside the comfort zone,” Spieth said. “I didn’t want to force anything at that point. I’m going to make it if I step off. There’s no point in letting anything else happen.”

Spieth said his biggest goal on the weekend is to avoid watching the scoreboard.

He knows he’s playing good enough to win. No need to worry about what others are doing.

“Keep my head down, just need to set a goal for myself,” Spieth said. “Obviously Charley’s playing great, and we may be pretty close up there, and who knows what can happen on the weekend here.”

He expects the guys in the green jackets to really toughen up the greens and the pin placements on the weekend, not wanting anyone to dominate their course like Spieth has over the first two days.

“I’m sure they don’t like seeing really low scores,” said Spieth, who also tied the major championship record for lowest 36-hole total, matching three others.

Ernie Els, at 139, was the only other player with a single-digit deficit when Spieth finished his round. Everyone else was at least 10 shots behind.

“He’s special,” said Els, who began the day three shots back and fell farther behind with a 72 on a sultry, overcast day. “Nothing stands out, because he does everything well. He’s going to be tough to beat.”

On Thursday, Spieth posted the lowest opening round at the Masters in 19 years, just one stroke off the major championship scoring record. He came into Friday with a three-shot edge over Els, Hoffman, Justin Rose and Jason Day.

Now, Spieth is even farther ahead.

Not a time to relax, however.

“The weekend of a major, a round can seem like two rounds,” Spieth said. “What’s running through your head, the stress levels are higher. The hardest thing is putting aside wanting to win so bad. … We’re only at the halfway point. I’m aware of that. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Not exactly the Tiger of old.

Not completely terrible, either.

Tiger Woods is probably not going to win the Masters, unless something weird even by his standards happens over the next three rounds. His protestations aside, nine shots is an awful long way to come back for a player whose game is just beginning to come back.

But after a round Thursday where his short game looked much like the Tiger of days past, he walked off the 18th green with a smile on his face and a bit of a bounce in his step. At the very least, Woods has a realistic chance of completing all four rounds of a tournament for the first time since last year’s British Open.

And that’s progress, at least in the way Woods is measured these days.

“I felt good,” Woods said after a shooting a 1-over 73 despite hitting the ball in places around Augusta National he hasn’t seen before. “I felt I hit the ball well enough to shoot 3-under-par.”

Forgive Woods if he was somewhat in denial. Just finishing rounds in the past few years has been an issue, so he had to be breathing a sigh of relief when he sat down at the scorer’s table and signed for his 73.

And the fact is he’s not only nine shots behind first round leader Jordan Spieth, but couldn’t break par on a day made for scoring. Conditions were so benign that nearly a third of the 97-man field finished under par, including 65-year-old Tom Watson, who beat Woods by two shots with a 71.

It was also the highest first round score Woods has shot at the Masters since another 73 on opening day in 2007.

Still, it was a start. The world’s best player, Rory McIlroy, could do only a pair of shots better himself. And the way Woods held things together when they were threatening to go south had to be encouraging just by itself.

Most importantly, the short game that was so shockingly bad earlier this year in Phoenix and San Diego seemed to be back after two months in exile at home in Florida spent working on it.

“It’s my strength again,” Woods said. “That’s why I’ve busted my butt. That’s why I took time off. That’s why I hit thousands and thousands of shots to make sure that it’s back to being my strength.”

It was a round that came with a share of drama, beginning on the first tee when Woods pushed a shot into the trees on the right. He hit trees, put a ball in the water on No. 12, and grew so tired of spraying his drives that he cursed at himself in frustration after his tee shot on No. 15 went into the gallery.

But the short game offered hope of better days ahead, most notably on No. 11 when he put a treacherous pitch shot 5 feet from the hole to salvage par. And fans chimed in to offer their hope that Woods might climb the leaderboard one day again.

“Relax, Tiger,” one yelled out after Woods 3-putted the first hole for bogey.

If only it was that easy. Then again, maybe it was, judging from the fun Woods seemed to have the day before when he played the par-3 contest with his two children and girlfriend Lindsey Vonn along for the walk.

That wasn’t the Tiger Woods who won four green jackets before he turned 30, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Woods of old was a menacing presence who intimidated other players and walked the fairways with blinders on, seemingly oblivious to both fans and his fellow competitors.

On Thursday he showed off his kinder and gentler side as he chatted amiably with playing partner Jimmy Walker while they made their way around the course on a steamy afternoon.

“He played OK,” Walker said. “He had a couple wild shots. We all did today.”

Woods is notorious for never admitting he is out of a tournament, so it was little surprise that he believes he can still win. But the reality is he hasn’t been able to do that since 2005 here, and he’s been stuck on 14 major tournament wins ever since the 2008 U.S. Open.

And the oddsmakers in Vegas that made him a 25-1 longshot to win lengthened those odds to 60-1 after the first round.

“You know, I’m still in it,” Woods insisted. “I’m only nine back. And we have a long way to go. And we don’t know what the Masters is going to do, what they’re going to do with the greens or the golf course. You know how they like to change things every now and then.”

Back at a place he loves, a place where he’s had so much success, Woods is starting to believe once again.

Don’t look at the scoreboard, and it almost seems like old times.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth had everything go his way Thursday in the Masters, so he should have known how the shot would turn out without even asking.

In the lead and in the trees, he slashed a 7-iron toward the green and started barking instructions at the golf ball until he saw it bound onto the 14th green. He never saw it smack into the pin and settle a few feet away. He only heard one of the loudest cheers of the afternoon.

“What happened?” Spieth said to his caddie.

Something special.

With six birdies in a seven-hole stretch, Spieth flirted with a major championship record he didn’t know existed and atoned for his lone mistake with one last birdie putt for an 8-under 64. It was the best opening round at Augusta National in 19 years, gave him a three-shot lead and stole plenty of buzz from the Grand Slam bid of Rory McIlroy and the return of Tiger Woods.

“It’s one of the better rounds I’ve ever played,” he said.

That wasn’t the case for McIlroy, though his round wasn’t awful. The world’s No. 1 player saved par four times on the front nine and scratched out a 71. Woods had three birdies in his round of 73, and while it was the first time since 2007 that he shot over par in the first round of the Masters, it was looked upon as progress. Most peculiar about his first round in two months was that his short game saved him.

But the day belonged to Spieth, a 21-year-old Texan who at least got into the Masters record book as the youngest to lead after the first round.

An even more significant record was within his reach, and he didn’t even know it.

Spieth went to 8 under with that birdie on the 14th hole, and then he blistered a driver down the fairway on the par-5 15th hole, just 228 yards to the hole. That’s when he started thinking about a 62 because he had never shot 10-under par as a pro.

But he hit hybrid over the green and wound up making bogey. Only later did Spieth realize that 63 was the best score in any major, and only two players had done at the Masters – Greg Norman in the first round of 1996 and Nick Price in the third round of 1986.

“So that’s a little frustrating,” he said before he paused with a wry smile. “But I’m certainly OK with the day.”

It wasn’t that big of a surprise.

Spieth shared the 54-hole lead last year at Augusta with Bubba Watson until a four-shot swing over the last two holes of the front nine as Watson pulled away. Plus, he might have been the hottest player coming into this Masters.

In his last three events, he won, finished second and lost in a playoff. The biggest challenge he faced was to keep his expectations from growing taller than a Georgia pine, and to make sure he was well rested.

Whatever the formula, it worked.

“What a player,” Els said after a 67, his best score at the Masters since Phil Mickelson beat him with a birdie on the last hole in 2004. “You just cannot see this kid not win many, many majors. I think he is by far the most balanced kid I’ve seen. Jordan, he’s got that little tenacity to him and he’s really got a fighting spirit, and he’s the nicest kid in the world. … He’s a special kid.”

Els played the par 5s in 5 under and briefly had the lead until Spieth went on his birdie spree. Hoffman finished with an eagle and two birdies over his last four holes.

Day looked to be the most dangerous. Twice a contender at Augusta in the last four years, he made five straight birdies on the back nine until he lost momentum with a bogey from the bunker on the 17th. Still, three shots behind after one round wasn’t a bad place to me.

McIlroy has more work.

Coming off successive major victories to close out last year, McIlroy needs only a green jacket to become the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. He has never started a Masters with this much historic significance in play, or this much attention.

McIlroy smashed his opening drive right down the middle, The rest of his game was a bit off.

He hooked a drive into the hazard on the par-5 second and had to scramble for par. He stubbed a chip short of the green on the 350-yard third hole and had to fight for another par. McIlroy picked up two birdies on the par 5s on the back nine to salvage his start.

“It could have been a round that got away from me,” McIlroy said. “I just stayed patient, realizing that it’s a 72-hole tournament. It was good to get into red numbers.”

That wasn’t that difficult to achieve on a day of soft conditions that made even the tough pin positions a little more accessible. Thirty players in the 97-man field broke par.

Woods wasn’t one of them.

He opened with a three-putt bogey from about 40 feet. He had one bad adventure on the ninth and escaped with bogey. But there was not a sign of struggle from his short game, except for a bunker shot on the par-3 fourth hole that went over the green.

Most telling was early on the back nine. Woods saved par from the bunker right of the green on No. 10. Facing one of the scariest shots on the course, he pitched beautifully to save par on the 11th. And after a tee shot into the water on No. 12, his wedge to 2 feet allowed him to make bogey.

“It’s my strength again,” Woods said.

But he was nine shots behind, and that was going to take a strong effort to overcome.

It wasn’t the start Canadians were hoping for.

The duo of Corey Conners and Mike Weir could not find their grooves early Thursday morning, shooting 8-over and 10-over par, respectively.

The 23-year-old Conners started steady with four straight pars, before running into trouble with a string of bogeys. The Listowel, Ont., native had his hands full with the famously quick greens of Augusta National—averaging 1.89 putts-per-hole with two three-putts.

The National Amateur Squad member managed to finish the day on a positive note, birdying the par-4 18^th . Conners will look to ride that momentum into tomorrow’s second round.

Paired alongside Conners in the 8:18am tee time was 2003 Masters Champion, Mike Weir. The Brights Grove, Ont., native had a difficult time mirroring his championship form, carding a 10-over par 82.

“Oh, a ball of laughs,” Weir told the Vancouver Sun’s Cam Cole.

“It’s just getting the strength and endurance in this (right) arm to last longer. It just seems to fatigue. In my mind I want to keep my swing short but the arm just keeps bending — and that’s just the ligament and the strength in my forearm.”

Corey Conners’ Scorecard:

Click here to view a summary of Conners’ round.

Mike Weir’s Scorecard:

Click here to view a summary of Weir’s round.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Charley Hoffman considers himself quite the veteran of the Masters. Whenever he’s not playing, this storied tournament is must-see TV for him.

Playing, however, is much more fun than watching.

Being in contention after the first 18 holes is even better.

Playing Augusta National for just the second time, and first since 2011, Hoffman put his unusual experience to work Thursday. He turned in his best round here with a 5-under 67, and he’s much happier playing than being frustrated by having to watch at home.

“That means I wasn’t winning golf tournaments,” Hoffman said. “So my main goal is to win golf tournaments, and obviously you have to win golf tournaments to get here to the Masters. And no, I think the Masters does a great job with TV. It’s just a fun tournament to watch and all the great past champions, and I think it’s the one if I’m not in, I do tune in.”

Hoffman earned his spot this week by winning the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Mexico in November – the final PGA Tour event of the 2014 calendar year. That was his third career title and first in 109 starts. That was the second drought after going 105 starts between his win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 2007 and the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship.

The wait between titles was so long that Hoffman and his wife, pregnant at the time of his second win in 2010, celebrated the win in Mexico with their 4-year-old daughter Claire. Adding to the joy? Knowing he was Augusta-bound once again.

“I was just trying to win a golf tournament on the PGA Tour so I could get back here,” Hoffman said.

His tee time at the Masters made his return even more special. Hoffman started in the first group in a twosome with Brian Harman following the ceremonial tee shots by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Once Hoffman saw the schedule, he bought a couple flags and got autographs from Nicklaus and Palmer to auction off for his foundation.

“Gary walked away so I went, I’d better get Jack and Arnie before I lose it all,” Hoffman said. “I’ll try at some point to get Gary to sign the two that they signed, and that would be pretty cool.”

If he can keep up his play, Hoffman could get that chance soon. He started off with five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. A man who likes to play quickly said he appreciated the honor of being in the first group because that gave him the chance to hit and go with no waiting.

Hoffman had to shake off some nerves after getting those autographs as he hooked his tee shot into the ninth fairway before hitting back and two-putting to save par. Then he birdied three of his next four holes, taking advantage of softer greens thanks to a humid morning. His longest birdie putt was from 4 feet on the par-5 No. 2.

After a bogey at No. 11, he stuck a 20-degree hybrid from 240 yards to 12 feet for eagle on the 530-yard par-5 15th. Then he birdied Nos. 16 and 18, finishing by sticking a 6-iron to 3 feet for a score that was two strokes better than any of his four rounds here in 2011.

Hoffman has played well this year, tying for second at the Humana Challenge. He also was the first-round lead at Valero Texas two weeks ago with an opening 67 before tying for 11th. He then tied for 11th in Houston before coming to Georgia.

“It’s the coveted green jacket you want to get,” Hoffman said. “I’m trying to approach it like if I get in position, I’m going to be aggressive. If I get out of position, I’m going to try to get back in position just like any other golf tournament. It worked today. I don’t know if it’s going to work tomorrow or the next day, but I’m going to try to keep my game plans I have going into it.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – They shared the lead going into the weekend 50 years ago at Augusta National.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were together again Thursday morning in another familiar role. Each hit a drive off the first tee to start the Masters. And then golf’s “Big Three” shared memories and jokes about their games and friendship.

They combined to win the Masters 13 times – they were the only winners from 1960 through 1966. It was in 1965 that they were tied at 6-under 138 after two rounds. Nicklaus jokingly said he only remembered the third round. That’s when he matched the Masters record with a 64 and wound up winning by nine shots.

Palmer hit the tee shot even on Thursday though he is recovering from a dislocated shoulder.

The Big Three hit their tee shots as Honorary Starters. The 2015 Masters has officially begun. #themasters https://t.co/lDuzNvKmYf

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2015

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Owning what is arguably the most beautiful golf course in the world apparently isn’t enough for members of Augusta National. Soon they may lay claim to the world’s most beautiful parking lot, too.

Chairman Billy Payne hinted as much while fielding questions following his annual “State of the Masters” address.

The club recently bought a roughly 2-square-mile parcel of land just north of the golf course that has been used as a parking lot for the Masters. Berckman’s Road, which currently separates the two properties, will be diverted farther north to form one contiguous parcel.

“While it will continually be maintained every year as a parking lot, it will look appropriately as though it belongs inside the fences of Augusta National,” Payne said.

“Imagine parking … a few years from now in a very beautiful park, and walking to the admissions gate without having any interference by cars or carts. It will be a straight, uninterrupted walk, a beautiful walk. We’re pretty good at landscaping, as you know,” he added a few moments later to laughter, “so you can kind of imagine what it would look like.”

Asked later whether the expanded parcel would encourage the club to consider expanding the golf course itself – hole No. 5, which abuts Berckman’s, is the only likely candidate at the moment – Payne replied, “Yes, through time it will, yes.”

The parking lot wasn’t the only long-term beautification item on Wednesday’s agenda.

In yet another tribute to the soaring loblolly pine known as Eisenhower’s Tree – felled during an ice storm in February 2014 – club officials said they had managed to preserve a seedling that may be replanted someday.

The tree stood guard along the left side of the 17th fairway about 210 yards from the tee. It so frustrated former president and Augusta member President Dwight Eisenhower during his rounds here that he campaigned for years to have it removed. Nature finally took care of that.

“While we learned last year that the absence of the Ike’s Tree … did not impact scoring average on the hole, who knows what the future holds or what future chairmen might decide to do with these priceless specimens,” Payne said.

Following the withdrawal of Australian Marc Leishman, there are 97 players in this year’s field. Payne said Masters officials intend to keep the number around 100.

“We look at that periodically, and we are prepared if necessary to make changes to the qualifications. … The restricting factor to the field size is the amount of daylight hours during early spring. We already push the envelope very closely when we get at or about a hundred players.

“If it regularly got more than that, we would have to do something,” he added. “I don’t know what it is, but we would do something.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Kevin Streelman beat Camilo Villegas on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff Wednesday to win the Par 3 tournament on the last day to relax at Augusta National.

Streelman and Villegas finished the nine holes tied at 5 under. They each opened with a par then a birdie before Streelman topped Villegas, who had not one, but two holes-in-one through his first eight holes.

Americans Ben Martin and Cameron Tringale tied last year’s Par 3 champ Ryan Moore at 4 under.

Streelman, who played at Duke, tied for 42nd last year in his best finish in three appearances at the Masters.

Winning the Par 3 contest has been considered a bad omen since no one has won both that title and the Masters in the same week. Streelman called it a fun day where his focus was on helping Ethan from the Make-a-Wish Foundation have a great day.

“Done all I can do,” Streelman said. “Now I’ve just got to go out and have fun and play.”

Villegas got his first ace on No. 4 along with Jack Nicklaus and Matias Dominguez of Chile. The Colombian followed that with his second hole-in-one of the day on the 120-yard No. 8, taking him to 5-under 22 and tying Streelman.

Holes-in-one are nothing new for Villegas who had the 14th of his career last week at home with a 5-iron. He said his pitching wedge on his first hole-in-one Wednesday kept trickling back and went in the hole. He used a 54-degree wedge on his second ace.

“The second one, we were a little more emotional there,” Villegas said. “We just kind of jumped. Enjoying it man.”

Tiger Woods had company playing the Par 3 for the first time since 2004. His 6-year-old son, Charlie, and 7-year-old daughter, Sam, caddied for him with girlfriend, Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn, joining them. Woods even let his daughter handle his putting, and she showed a deft touch on the green.

“I’ll always have memories of my pop at Augusta and now Sam & Charlie,” Woods wrote on Twitter. “An amazing day.”

Tiger Woods with son Charlie, daughter Sam and Lindsey Vonn (Getty Images)

Family time is the best part of this event.

Ernie Els let his daughter Samantha putt. Caleb Watson looked adorable in his caddie suit and green hat following his daddy, two-time Masters champ Bubba from hole to hole. Brendan Todd had his hands full carrying son Oliver when not swinging a club.

“Definitely the best part was carrying my son, six-month-boy, all over showing him off to the crowd,” Todd said.

Nicklaus, the six-time Masters champ, looked like he just might win his first Par 3 title at the age of 75 after a hole-in-one on No. 4.

His iron shot bounced twice before taking a little hop spinning back into the hole. Ben Crenshaw and Gary Player each congratulated Nicklaus, and he celebrated with a double first-pump. Fans roared for a shot that got Nicklaus on the leaderboard before a 5-over finish.

“I never had a hole-in-one at Augusta,” Nicklaus said. “It’s funny. I had an interview this morning and I said, `Well, all I’ve got to do is go out and win the Par 3 and make a hole-in-one,’ and I make a hole-in-one. I had 3 under for the Par 3 and then choked.”

There were five aces Wednesday in all.

Watch the #par3contest holes-in-one from @jacknicklaus, @TrevorImmelman, @Afidominguez, and @CamiloVillegasR https://t.co/dvRqkvdri5

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 8, 2015

Canada’s Corey Conners didn’t record an ace, but he did fare quite well. The Listowel, Ont., native and Team Canada member tied for 6th at 3-under.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods played in the Par 3 tournament at the Masters for the first time since 2004, and he made it quite a family outing with girlfriend Lindsey Vonn at his side, and his children caddying for him.

Vonn certainly completed the family portrait on Wednesday with her flowing green dress matching Tiger’s shirt while Woods’ daughter, Sam, and son, Charlie, each wore green ballcaps and white caddie jumpsuits in their first turn in this event.

The Olympic skiing champion sure seemed to handle the role as stepmom well, keeping a watchful eye on the children, often leaning down to talk with them.

Woods let his 7-year-old daughter help with the putting, and she showed her father she can certainly roll the ball.

It seemed like a good time was had by all. There’s no doubt Woods enjoyed himself.

“These were memories for a lifetime,” he said.

With one of the most elite fields in golf headed to Augusta, here are Inside the PGA TOUR’s top 10 players to watch at the Masters Tournament in this feature from “Inside the PGA TOUR”.