American Chad Campbell shot a sizzling seven-under-par 65 at Augusta National for the first-round lead at the 73rd edition of the Masters.

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Campbell (pictured) ended a low-scoring opening day one shot clear of countrymen Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan, with Japan's Shingo Katayama and veteran Larry Mize tied for third at five under.

World number one Tiger Woods began his campaign with a two-under-par 70, while Padraig Harrington's quest for a third successive Major triumph started with a promising 69.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and England's Ross Fisher joined Harrington at three under, with Lee Westwood and Greg Norman among a group of seven players a further shot back.

But the day belonged to Ryder Cup player Campbell, who entered the Masters record books with five consecutive birdies at the start of his round, and summoned another blitz after the turn to get to nine under.

Campbell arrived at the at the 17th needing two pars to equal the course record 63 shared by Norman and Nick Price but bogeyed both holes to finish at seven under.

"I got off on a roll and it's always nice to make a couple of birdies to start, much less five," said the 34-year-old.

"I felt like I was hitting it well all day. Unfortunately I ended up with two bogeys to finish but overall I'm pretty happy with the round. By no means is it easy out there but if you hit good shots you really get rewarded."

Elsewhere, 19-year-old Rory McIlroy sunk a 15-footer at the last to finish with a hard-fought 72 on his Masters debut.

Fellow teenagers Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and Danny Lee of New Zealand completed rounds of 73 and 74 respectively on a day that yielded better scores for players at the opposite end of the age spectrum.

The 1987 Masters champion Mize led the old guard with six birdies in his 67, while two-times winner Bernhard Langer and Australian Norman rolled back the years to post 70s.

Defending champion Trevor Immelman of South Africa bagged birdies at 14, 15 and 16 to recover from a poor start and finish at one under.

For world number two Phil Mickelson the opening round proved a major disappointment, the American shooting a 73 to finish eight shots off the pace.

Spain's Sergio Garcia joined Mickelson at one over after bogeying two of the last three holes.

The opening day's play at Augusta was marked by fine, clear weather and unusually generous pin positions, which made for a stark contrast to the birdie-sparce tournaments of recent years.