April 6 (UPI) -- Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland took advantage of ideal weather and course conditions with matching 65s for a tie for first place through the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday in Augusta, Ga.
Hovland fired the first 7-under and sat in the clubhouse watching Rahm and Koepka wrap up their first 18 holes at Augusta National Golf Club. The trio of 65s are tied for the most scores of 65 or lower in a single round in Masters history.
"I thought the course was quite gettable today," Koepka said on the ESPN broadcast. "I was playing well in the right spots.
"I missed a couple short ones, where [my score] could have been real low, but I'm very pleased with the way I played today."
Rahm -- ranked No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking -- carded the lowest 18-hole score in Masters history for a player who carded a double bogey or worse on the first hole.
He followed his double bogey on No. 1 with back-to-back birdies. He then birdied No. 7 and made eagle on No. 8. Rahm birdied four of his final six holes to tie Hovland.
Koepka -- ranked No. 118 -- went on to sink eight birdies and just one bogey to join the co-leaders. Hovland -- ranked No. 9 -- made an eagle and five birdies. He did not log a bogey.
No. 14 Cameron Young shot a 5-under 66 and sits in fourth place, tied with No. 33 Jason Day.
A large group of players, including top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler and No. 7 Xander Schaufelle were 4-under and are tied for sixth.
No. 4 Patrick Cantlay was 1-under. No. 2 Rory McIlroy was even through his first 18.
Tiger Woods carded a 2-over 74 through his first 18 holes. His first round featured three birdies and five bogeys.
The players with the Top 50 scores, including ties, after two rounds will advance to Saturday's third round.
The 88-player field shrunk to 86, with No. 8 Will Zalatoris and No. 96 Kevin Na withdrawing Thursday morning. Rain is expected Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Jose Maria Olazabal and Cameron Champ will tee off in the first group of the second round at 8 a.m. EDT Friday in Augusta.
Koepka, Danny Willett and Gary Woodland will tee off at 8:48 a.m. Scheffler, Max Homa and Sam Bennett will tee off at 10:30 a.m.
McIlroy, Sam Burns and Tom Kim will tee off at 10:42 a.m.
Woods, Hovland and Schauffele will tee off at 1:24 p.m. Rahm, Young and Justin Thomas will tee off at 1:48 p.m. in group 29.
The second round will air on TV from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN.
