( CNN ) -- Fred Couples led a crowded field after the opening round of the Masters , but all eyes were on Tiger Woods , who trailed by just two strokes . Woods finished Thursday 4-under par , his best opening round score at the Masters , according to the Press Association . The 50-year-old Couples sat atop a crowded and veteran field ; 11 players were within two strokes of each other at the top , including 60-year-old Tom Watson , who was just a stroke behind Couples . But almost all attention was cast on world No . 1 Woods , who returned to the game after taking a break last November , when revelations of extramarital affairs were made public . He spent 45 days at a rehabilitation center for what the golfer called `` personal '' issues before announcing he was ending his self-enforced exile from the game ahead of the year 's opening major tournament . Woods was welcomed on to the first tee by a crowd of thousands and was greeted with cheers , and a few jeers , as his name was announced . He showed few signs of nerves as he thumped his drive 300 yards down the middle of the fairway to signal his return to golf . Woods made a solid start , making par on the first two holes , before a birdie at the third . He dropped a shot at seven before an eagle on eight moved him to -2 . He shot a 33 on the front nine and a 35 on the back nine , according to the Masters Web site . How did he assess his return ? `` It meant I 'm two shots off the lead , '' Woods said in reports from the Press Association . `` I 'm here to play golf . '' Joining Watson one shot off the lead on Thursday was Phil Mickelson , Lee Westwood , KJ Choi and YE Yang . Joining Woods at 4-under was Anthony Kim , Ian Poulter , Nick Watney and Rickey Barnes .
Tiger Woods two strokes off lead after first round at Augusta . Brian Daly leads a pack of four players within two strokes of each other . Daly was returning to sport after taking surgery that began last week .