Tiger Woods is trying to win a 14th major. (Getty Images)

With a million references to the Grand Slam ringing in his ears and the weight of his own lofty expectations on his shoulders, the No. 1 player in the world found himself stuck in neutral for most of the opening round of the 72nd Masters Thursday afternoon. Only a chip-in for eagle at the par-5 15th mitigated a predominantly frustrating tour of Augusta National Golf Club that resulted in a score of level-par 72.

Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways at wide-open Augusta National on Thursday. (Getty Images)

The usual

Tiger Woods has never broken 70 in the first round of the Masters:

Year Round 1 score Finish 2007 73 T2 2006 73 T3 2005 74 1 2004 75 T22 2003 76 T15 2002 70 1 2001 70 1 2000 75 5 1999 72 T18 1998 71 T8 1997 70 1

"I played a lot better than what my score indicates," said Woods, the four-time Masters champion, who in his 14 opening rounds at Augusta has broken par only four times and has never shot a sub-70 score. "I just had to stay patient out there, and I ended up OK."

Woods, 32, of Windermere, Fla., offset consecutive bogeys at 13 and 14 with a chip-in eagle from 25 feet at the 15th that induced a trademark fist-pump.

"It was a pretty easy little pitch," Woods said. "It was straight uphill. The ball was sitting up. It was pretty soft underneath there and just had to carry it far enough, and it went in."

But not much else found the cup. Woods, even with the eagle, still required 28 strokes on the greens, and he didn't convert a birdie at Augusta for the first time since the opening round in 2003, when he shot 76.

"He did play well. He only missed a couple fairways [four] and he hit it so well," said swing instructor Hank Haney. "I know he has to be disappointed in his short game, especially for as hard as he's worked on it. He got two bad breaks, too, which is going to happen."

Woods often speaks of needing to have a little luck to win any golf tournament, but fortune glanced elsewhere on Thursday. Woods suffered his first bogey on the par-5 13th hole after going over the green in two. His bump-and-run shot up the slope was a foot shy of perfect and the ball fed back off the green. From there, he struck another chip and then two putts.

Earlier, at the par-5 eighth hole, he crushed a drive but was left with an awkward yardage for his second shot on the 570-yard hole called Yellow Jasmine. A 5-wood would have been ideal, but Woods had opted to put a 2-iron in his bag that he needed primarily for the tee shot at the 240-yard par-3 fourth, and he left out his 5-wood. So, instead he took a 3-wood, which was too much club. The ball bounded over the green and hit a post underneath the grandstands in the back left portion of the green.

"It's an easy up-and-down from there," Haney noted.

But it didn't stay there. Woods's ball ricocheted 40 yards right of the putting surface. He didn't even know what had happened until he started searching for his ball at the base of the grandstands. With no green to work with because of a back-right hole location, Woods could only pitch on and two-putt for what was a disappointing par.

"I didn't really get anything going my way today," Woods said glumly.

Nevertheless, Woods ended the day just four shots behind the leaders. Thursday might not have been his day, but three days remain for more hopeful results.

"Yeah, it's good," he said of his position at even par. "I kept myself in the tournament, I'm right there. With the weather supposed to be getting more difficult as the week goes on, I'm right there."