As could be expected at the Augusta National Golf Club, the par 5s were the key to scoring Thursday.

This time, though, the holes that typically invite success unlocked a world of Masters disasters. Blowups were nearly as commonplace as birdies.

Firm greens and unforgiving positions comprised perhaps the most demanding first-round conditions ever at Augusta and created the possibility of all kinds of difficulty. Even on the holes that are generally considered the course's easiest.

While the 88-man field made 12 double bogeys on the birdie holes, the par 5s claimed nine of the 16 dreaded ``others'' - scores worse than double.

And, when Augusta's par 5s start consuming strokes like pimento cheese sandwiches, you know it's tough all over the course.

``That's by far the toughest I've ever seen the course play without some strong wind or unusual conditions,'' said Lee Janzen. And he finished at even par.

It was easy, however, to get untracked in a hurry, as David Duval discovered on the back nine.

Tied for the lead at 1-under par through 11 holes, Duval double bogeyed No. 12 and reached the par-5 15th looking to regain momentum. He left the hole looking for a tourniquet.

After laying up 64 yards from the hole, he hit a fat wedge shot, which landed in the bank in front of the green and rolled back into the pond. He walked back 16 yards for his fifth, but played a similar shot, which also rolled into the water. Another pitch and two putts later, and Duval walked off the 15th with a 9, more than twice what he had hoped for.

``I just wasn't comfortable with the yardage on the first wedge shot, especially into these greens,'' said Duval, who finished at 6-over 78. ``Eighty yards is a good distance for my sand wedge but I caught that one fat too. It's one thing to do it once but that's inexcusable to do it again.''

Ken Green wasn't looking for excuses after butchering the first round. Just a place to hide.

Back at the Masters for the first time in six years, Green was reacquainted with Augusta's greens by virtue of six 3-putts, one 4-putt and one 5-putt.

Green's round started to unravel on the par-5 second. He hit his second shot into the greenside bunker and nearly holed out his shot for an eagle, but the ball rolled just past the hole. Green's birdie putt missed as well and nearly rolled off the green. It took him three more putts from there for a double bogey.

Green was so exasperated afterward that he requested the media in the locker room to phone him at his home.

``It was one of the most embarrassing days in my life,'' Green said, ``From the sense that I wasn't scared or nervous, I was trying. But it was so unbelievable.''

Ed Fiori went down the leaderboard in a fireball with a triple bogey at No. 8.

After starting the day with seven consecutive pars, Fiori pulled his tee shot into trees to the left, and when he tried to punch out, hit another tree, knocking the ball further left over a cart path and into a bed of azaleas.

Finding his ball embedded in mud, he was allowed a free lift and after his drop, declared an unplayable lie. After dropping on pine needles near his first line of sight, Fiori punched out to the right side of the fairway for his fourth shot, knocked his fifth onto the green and three-putted from 15 feet for an eight.

It took so long for Fiori and rules officials to figure out his predicament that he and playing partner D.A. Weibring had to let Fuzzy Zoeller and Steve Scott play through.

No one, it seemed, was exempt from big numbers. Loren Roberts, among the best putters on the PGA Tour, finished with four three-putts and a four-putt, while the marquee pairing of Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson combined for a total of 14 on the par-5 second hole. Norman's seven was the highest score at No. 2 in his 60 rounds in the Masters.

And even players able to avoid par-5 disasters were aware of the possibility.

``Colin Montgomerie and I were laughing going down the 10th hole,'' said Davis Love III. ``We heard this loud roar come from the other side of the course and we said, `Somebody must have made par at No. 2. That's how bad it was.'''

Dan Forsman knew he could have finished with a lot worse than par when he reached No. 2 with a 5-iron second shot and three-putted from 50 feet.

His first putt, hit too softly, came up about 3 feet short of the hole, but crept down a ridge and rolled 60 feet away. He said he felt lucky for his two-putt from there.

``Those (par-5) holes look so short that people think you ought to beat up on them,'' said Forsman. ``But they're every bit as challenging to make par on as every other hole.''

And, on Thursday, they were just as easy to make a mess of.