The story has been retold for years of the 79 that Charles Howell shot as an 11-year-old in his first round at Augusta National Golf Club.

Charles Howell gets into trouble from the very beginning of the first round, having to hit this shot around the trees on the first hole. His 8-over-par 80 was the worst score he's posted in his five Masters Tournaments. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

Thursday's first round of the 2006 Masters Tournament was a long way from the hometown favorite's fondest memory.

Howell shot an opening-round 80, his worst score in five Masters appearances. With bogeys on five of his first six holes, it was a rough start for a player who counts missing the cut a year ago as "probably the worst day of my golfing career."

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Howell said Thursday. "I just didn't play well. It was a tough day. It's a difficult golf course and you're punished for slight miscues a lot. Just hope for a better day tomorrow."

Howell didn't know quite how to handle and recover from his disappointing start.

"I really don't know," he said. "I'm just going to go home and probably rent a movie and watch it and cope from there. ... Just do something besides golf."

Howell found himself trying to catch up quickly after bogeys on 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. A birdie at the par-5 eighth and a bogey on No. 10 kept him at 5 over entering Amen Corner.

Howell had a chance to make up some ground after placing a perfect 3-wood into the fairway on the par-5 13th hole. With 216 yards to the front of the green and a helping breeze behind, he pushed his 5-wood right of the flag and into the tributary of Rae's Creek.

After his drop, Howell's chip just missed the cup and released 15 feet above the hole. A slippery three-putt from there for a double bogey followed by a bogey on No. 14 dropped him to 8 over.

"That green was hard, and that's a tough flag back there," he said.

Howell finished the day with 35 putts, including three three-putts.

"As stupid as this is going to sound, my game is improving," he said. "Working on the things I'm working on, sure my expectations are always high. But I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me regardless of this being the Masters or not. Unfortunately it's come at this time of year, but fortunately there will be more."

He'll start today's second round six strokes out of the top 44 necessary to make the cut.

"I would love to make the cut, obviously, and will be doing everything I can to do that," he said. "If not, I'll keep moving on and working on my game. Obviously, making the cut would be a big thing. With the state of my game and what I'm working on, that wouldn't be a bad result."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.