Tiger Woods chuntered his way to a scruffy level-par 72 as his bid for a fifth Masters title got off to a sluggish start at Augusta.
The world number one opened with 12 straight pars but was struggling and failed to convert his birdie chances.
A fluffed chip from the back of the 13th led to back-to-back bogeys but he answered by chipping in from off the 15th green for an eagle three.
Woods parred his way home but was a disgruntled figure for much of the day.
The 32-year-old came into the event amid much hype about achieving the fabled Grand Slam of winning all four majors in the same year.
But the winner of 13 majors, who has triumphed in seven of his last eight tournaments, maintained his run of failing to break 70 in the first round at Augusta.
England's Justin Rose and South African Trevor Immelman share a one-shot lead at four under after rounds of 68, while Brian Bateman, Brandt Snedeker and England's Lee Westwood are one shot off the lead.
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"I didn't get anything going my way. I thought I played a lot better than my score indicates," he said.
"At 13 I hit a sweet approach shot that I thought was perfect, then I ended up with the worst place you could have put it. At 15, it was an easy little chip uphill - just had to make sure it carried enough.
"But the way the course plays now, you don't really shoot low scores round here. You just kind of plod along. It plays more like a US Open than a Masters.
"It was very quiet. The only roar I heard all day was for Poulter's eagle."
When he won the Masters in 1997, 2001 and 2002 Woods opened with a 70 but his 2005 victory came after he carded 74 in the first round before beating Chris DiMarco in a play-off.
Woods has held all four majors at once - dubbed the Tiger Slam - when he won the US Open, Open and USPGA in 2000 followed by the Masters the following year.
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