The King whacked his ball down the right side of the fairway, then turned it over to 96 players competing for the green jacket on a sunny Thursday morning at Augusta National.

The temperature was expected to warm into the 70s under clear blue skies, a striking change from the foul weather that's plagued the event the last two years.

Ian Woosnan of Wales, the 1991 champion, went out in the first group with Chez Reavie and Briny Baird.

Australia's Greg Norman is back in the year's first major for the first time since 2002, South Africa's Gary Player is competing at Augusta for the final time. Tiger Woods is playing in his first major since winning last summer's U.S. Open on a bum knee