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Bryson DeChambeau admitted he has made “mistakes” with past comments about Augusta National after setting the clubhouse target at The Masters.

The former US Open champion went on a brilliant birdie burst on the back nine on Thursday, with five birdies in a six-hole stretch from the 12th helping him post a seven-under 65.

DeChambeau’s opening round was his best at The Masters and is his lowest since drawing criticism after comments made about Augusta National in 2020, where he said he was looking at the iconic venue as a par-67 because of his ability to reach all the par-fives in two shots.

“The comment was definitely misinterpreted,” DeChambeau said. “I said it, and I respect people’s opinions on it. For me, I have a level of respect for this golf course that’s a little bit different than a couple years ago.

“Clearly today was a great test of golf, and I was able to conquer a very difficult golf course today.

“Regarding the 67 comment, you know, you mess up. I’m not a perfect person. Everybody messes up. You learn from your mistake, and that was definitely one.

“I’m going to go out and try to shoot the best score I possibly can. If you want to line the math up that way, that is a perspective you can take. It was a perspective I had, and it cost me a lot of slack, I guess you could say. It definitely hurt some things.

“But look, I’ll say this again. I shot 65 today, and that was one of the best rounds of golf I’ve played in a long time. There’s three more days to go, and I’m not losing sight of that fact; that it’s right there in front of me. Just got to go execute.”

DeChambeau holds a one-shot advantage over world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who made a bogey-free start to his bid for a second win at The Masters in three years, while Danny Willett marked his first start in 207 days with an impressive four-under 68.

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Willett stunned by ‘completely unexpected’ start

Willett hasn’t competed since undergoing shoulder surgery after the BMW PGA Championship in September, a procedure that was expected to rule him out for at least a year, only for him to decide in the days leading up to the tournament that he was fit to feature in the opening major of the year.

The Englishman marked his first competitive round in 207 days by mixing seven birdies with three bogeys in an impressive four-under 68, keeping him within three strokes of DeChambeau.

“It’s unexpected, isn’t it?!” Willett told reporters after his round. “Practice has been good. It was never an issue of whether or not the shoulder was strong enough, it was whether or not I could hit the shots I wanted to.

“There was a couple there on nine and 10 that weren’t great, certain shots, certain winds still are a bit tricky. But for the most part, then kept the ball under really good control and kept it in the areas that we know we can score from.

“I had no idea what to expect, so yeah, it’s obviously always nice to come in having shot a decent score, and just give yourself that little bit of confidence inside and hopefully have a nice few more days. Completely unexpected.

“Because it was playing tough, probably really made us concentrate that little bit more. Nice finish there and the last four holes. Instead of posting an alright score of level-ish, which for me would have been an amazing achievement, to shoot 68, yeah really happy.”

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