Peter Lonard finally cracked Augusta National's secret code in the first round at the Masters in Augusta.

Lonard, who had never broken 74 in four previous appearances in Augusta, stayed out of trouble for a change on his way to a most respectable one-under-par 71.

"It was nice not to be four-over after five holes for a change," said Lonard, who was best of the early Australian starters, one stroke better than Robert Allenby.

Englishman Ian Poulter and Swede Robert Karlsson were the early clubhouse leaders on two-under 70, with most of the big guns still on the course.

"I think I've done the homework," Lonard continued. "Whether I've got the ability to do anything with it, who knows, but I think I'm far more prepared than I've ever been.

"I don't think I fully understood the importance of missing in the right spot (before but) the more you play here, the more you realise it doesn't matter how good a chipper you are, you're not going to get it up and down unless you hit a freak shot.

"And you can hit a lot of greens and make a lot of three-putts if you hit it in the wrong spots. The four years I've been here before I had absolutely no idea where to miss them. I've had a couple of years to think about it, and so far, so good."

Lonard kept his mistakes to a minimum, making just two bogeys, which he more than made up for with three birdies.

Despite benign conditions, with soft fairways and hardly a breath of wind, nobody shot better than 70 in the early going.

"This is about as easy as it's going to get, but it's a tough track," Lonard said.

Allenby, meanwhile, also made a promising start, overcoming two double bogeys on the front nine to cruise home in 34 strokes on the inward nine.

"I hit a lot of great iron shots but I putted well too, and that's one thing I haven't done well in the past," said Allenby, who also has a mediocre record here.

Allenby said he was battling injury, although he has had so many problems with his arms, wrists and hands in recent years that it's hard to keep track of them all.

"I've been battling tendinitis in my right elbow and it's been killing me, and my right hip went out last week and I felt it on the front nine," he continued.

The only other Australian to play early was Nick O'Hern, who shot a reasonable 74. Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley were among those with late tee times.

Poulter charged to a share of the clubhouse lead with a hole-in-one at the par-three 16th, where he holed out with an eight-iron from about 153 metres.

"That was probably the biggest adrenaline rush I've had," he said. "The hairs on the back of the neck were standing up."

Poulter made headlines recently when he was quoted in a magazine article saying that if he ever fulfilled his potential, he would be the only player to challenge Woods on a regular basis.

"I was basically saying how achievable I think it is to get to the No. 2 spot," he explained.

"I wasn't comparing anything to Tiger. I wasn't going to say I was going to win 84 tournaments on the PGA Tour; I haven't won one yet."

Play began one hour late due to morning fog, which quickly gave way to a sunny day.

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