Jim Furyk had his best opening round at the Masters Tournament since 2001, and his second-best Thursday in 12 starts at Augusta National Golf Club.

Jim Furyk hits out of a bunker on his way to a birdie at No. 15. Furyk said he should have shot better than 70 in Augusta National's benign conditions. (Michael Holahan/Staff)

He's not looking at it in those terms, though. Furyk thinks he let some opportunities escape him during a late-afternoon round of warm temperatures and little wind.

Furyk was 3-under-par at one point and one shot off the lead held by Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman, but bogeyed the 18th hole to finish with 2-under 70 and tied for sixth.

"I played pretty good, and for the first four holes, I putted pretty good," said Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who has missed only one cut at Augusta and has six times finished in a tie for 14th or better. "There's no wind, the greens were somewhat receptive. I think we had an opportunity to play today. The weather is supposed to go south this weekend and I don't expect (Thursday's conditions) to keep up. I hope we dodge it."

Furyk missed only two greens and three fairways, but said the statistics were deceiving -- especially because he needed 33 putts.

"I hit a lot of balls in spots on greens that were difficult to two-putt," he said.

Furyk had two three-putts, including one for par at No. 13 after he hit his second shot to within 20 feet of the hole. With a difficult downhill, sharp-breaking eagle attempt, Furyk had to nearly turn his back on the hole, and ease the ball to a spot where a severe left-to-right turn would happen.

His first putt went 10 feet past the hole, thoguh, and he missed the comeback putt.

"I hit one of those putts where I felt like I couldn't hit it high enough," he said. "I wanted to hit it hard and get it out there, but if I didn't hit it soft enough, it was going to end up low. I just hit a poor putt."

Furyk then left a 25-footer on the edge of the hole at No. 14, his last decent birdie opportunity. His bogey at No. 18 was particularly galling to him, because he hit a good drive and a good second shot that barely skipped onto the back fringe. His putt off the fringe curved to the left and stopped 4 feet from the hole, and he pushed the par attempt to the right.

He was so upset that he wanted five minutes of putting practice before he talked to the media.

"If I had birdied (No.) 18 to get to 2-under, I would have felt good," he said.