A familiar Tiger Woods returns at Augusta National after opening 68

In the startling silence of the Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, Tiger Woods took a major step toward a record-tying sixth green jacket.

Displaying the form that carried him to victory last year, Woods fired a bogey-free, 4-under-par 68 to stand three shots behind clubhouse leader Paul Casey during the first round of the Masters Tournament. The only other time Woods broke 70 in the first round in his 23 Masters appearances came in 2010, when he returned from scandal and shot 68.

And it was his first bogey-free round in a major since the first round of the 2009 PGA Championship.

Photos: Tiger's First Round

“I did everything well,” said Woods. “I drove it well, hit my irons well, putted well. The only real bad shot I hit today was I think 8. I had a perfect number with a 60-degree sand wedge and I hit it on the wrong shelf. Other than that, I just did everything well.

“The only thing I could say is that I wish I could have made a couple more putts. I missed everything on the high side. Putts just aren’t moving, so it’s just different with as slow as they are and then with the weather delay, the amount of rain they’ve had. The golf course is going to change a lot.”

Woods wasn’t hampered by the nearly three-hour suspension of play early in the day. During the delay, he kept his 44-year-old body limber by continuing to stretch and kept his belly full by continuing to eat.

Once Woods got going, he looked far from the man who has posted only one top-10 finish in eight starts this year and tumbled down the world rankings, where he’s fallen out of the top 30 for the first time in two years.

Instead, he looked like the Woods who has won 15 majors. While others may have been surprised by his turn in form, Woods wasn’t.

“I think that understanding how to play this golf course is so important,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have so many practice rounds throughout my career with so many past champions, and I was able to win this event early in my career and build myself up for the understanding that I’m going to come here each and every year, and the fact that this tournament is played on the same venue each and every year, and the other three majors aren’t.

“So understanding how to play it is a big factor.”

Starting on No. 10, Woods, just as he did last year in the final round, birdied the 13th, 15th and 16th holes. But after making birdie on No. 1 to move to 4 under – it was just his eighth birdie on the hole in 87 rounds at Augusta National – Woods failed to birdie the par-5 second, burned the edge with his birdie putt on the par-4 third, and didn’t give himself much of a chance to make birdies the rest of the way.

But Woods was delighted with the round, especially after hitting 15 of 18 greens and 10 of 14 fairways in regulation.

“There were a lot of differences today, playing on 1 and 10 today,” he said. “This morning I was on the putting green putting and getting ready for my round, and when they were introducing Gary (Woodland), we were on the putting green and we couldn’t hear them. There was a drone flying over the putting green. Down 1 today you could hear the drone over there. You don’t hear drones here.

“There’s no patrons, no roars. As the camera guys would say, where did the ball end up, because we just don’t know. That’s very different. A lot of firsts today. That’s the way this entire year has been. The fact that we’re able to compete for a Masters, considering all that’s been going on, it’s a great opportunity for all of us.”

Friday will be different for Woods, too. Because of the delay, he won’t begin his second round until around 3 p.m. Which means he will have to finish his second round on Saturday and, if he makes the cut, begin the third round as well.

“I got off to a fast start today, which is good, but I think everyone is,” he said. “Everyone is going low out there today. With these conditions, you have to. You have to be aggressive. There’s no reason why you can’t fire at a lot of the flags.

“Like today on 5, I hit a little squeezer off the tee and had 227 to the hole, hit a 4-iron to the back edge and it only rolled out a foot. That doesn’t happen here.

“But this is the way the golf course is going to play for the next couple days.

“It’ll be a little bit different.”