Augusta National giveth and taketh away and it was very much a tale of two halves as Shane Lowry and Seamus Power enjoyed contrasting fortunes in the Masters.

As Lowry rolled in a 16-footer at the last for a 68 that left him just three shots behind early leaders Viktor Hovlan, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, Power used some short game magic to get to three-under with three holes to play before he finished with back to back double bogey sixes for a heart-wrenching 73.

It was also a day of ups and downs for Malone amateur Matthew McClean, who got off to a dream start with two birdies in the first four holes and the solo lead in the Masters only to bogey the 16th and double-bogey the 17th and sign for a 77.

It was a particularly satisfying day for Lowry, who got off to a frustrating start when he missed from less than three feet for birdie at the first in an event he's had circled on the calendar since last year's third-place finish.

But he soon settled into his work and while he missed 10 footers at the fourth and sixth, he ignited his round with three birdies in a row from the seventh.

He would go on to get up and down from short of the 10th for par, brushing in an eight-footer. But while he handed that shot back at the 11th, he birdied the 15th and 18th to match his opening-day low from 2016.

"Yeah, it was pretty good," Lowry said. "Felt like I was in control of my ball out there today. It was nice. I said to (my caddie) Darren, I hit my second shot on 18 and I was like, that was a pretty good round of golf. And obviously it's nice to go up and roll in that putt on the last as well. I'm pretty happy with myself."

Norwegian Hovland (25) made the best of the early running, firing an eagle and five birdies in a bogey-free seven-under 65 alongside Tiger Woods before being joined by Rahm, whose 65 was the lowest round in Masters history for a player who opened with a four-putt double bogey.

As for Power, he turned in one-under as he followed an opening bogey, where he spun his approach off the front, with an eagle three thanks to a four-iron to five feet at the second.

But the West Waterford man struggled with the driver all day and he paid a high price for drives into the trees at the 17th and 18th as he pencilled in two double bogeys.

"It was a bit of a struggle all day," said the Tooraneena man, who made brilliant par saves at the fifth, seventh and eighth, then recovered from a bogey at the 10th with a birdie from 80 feet at the 11th and two more at the 13th and 15th.

"I actually holed some lovely putts there and did a lot of things right, but I just didn't drive it well.

"It's tough around here when you're not hitting it in the spots you need to off the tee, so I need to go figure something out on the range…. I know it's not too far away, it's probably just something in the setup, but we'll get it sorted out."

He opened with a 74 to be tied 43rd after the opening round last year before going to finish tied 27th.

But with scoring low on the opening day, he may need a low second round to make the cut, depending on the weather.

"It could be a very different golf course by the time we see it tomorrow," he said. "Putter feels great which is always a nice feeling, always feel like you have a chance. So I think just continue to do that and just hit a few better drives."

McClean got off to the perfect start, overcoming his early nerves to join the list of Irish players to lead the Masters.

He hit a perfect fade up the first, ripped a seven-iron to five feet and made the putt, then made a 13 footer for a two at the 180-yard fourth.

But he would eventually sign for a disappointing five-over 77, dropping five shots in a seven hole spell from the fifth before following a birdie at the 13th with a bogey at the 16th and a double-bogey at the 17th.

He three-putted three times as he bogeyed the fifth and seventh, three putted the 11th from 97 feet, then dropped another shot at the treacherous 12th, where he found the back bunker.

He would get up and down from 114 yards for birdie at the 13th but then bogeyed the 16th after bunkering his tee shot and three-putted from 13 feet for a double-bogey at the 17th after missing the green long.

"I don't know, I probably deep down would have been happy with the start I had," he said. "I was flying there. But to be not too disappointed with five-over in the first round is probably the sign that I actually played pretty well.

"So, yeah, it was tough to finish it out there, but yeah, I played much better than that and pretty happy with how I played."

He was especially pleased with his start and those two birdies in his first four holes to lead the Masters, albeit in the second group of the day,

"Well, I'd like to see the second shot actually," he said of the first. "It must have been close. I was joking, I was saying after four, I would take a screenshot of the leaderboard there, leading the Masters.

"It's more positives probably than negatives. The five-over probably looks worse than how I feel about it."