Westhampton - Friday at The Masters: A 21-year-old is the leader but a 51-year-old stole the show.

Freddie Couples, the winner of the 1992 Masters, tied the best round of the day, a four under 68, to finish at five under for the tournament.

Couples still suffers with bad back pain but he says he loves playing in The Masters so much, that he would play here no matter how much pain he plays in.

He said that some of the shots he hit today, the one off of the downhill lies on 7, 9 and 10, when he made contact and looked where they were going, were the best shots he hit all day.

Couples sunk five birdies and his only glitch was three putting on the par three 16th for bogie. He left several birdie putts out there as well and made a good putt on the last hole to save par.

With the international players dominating so far and with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods struggling, Freddie is the saving grace for the American media looking for a good story.

Defending champ Mickelson has not been able to get much going - he missed putts all day. He shot an 'even par 72' and is two under for the tournament. Tiger has been hovering at 1 under most of the day and to this point, he certainly looks nothing like the player who won four green jackets.

The questions are: can young Rory McIlroy maintain his lead and his nerves? And which American, if any, can challenge the strong international field that sit atop this leaderboard? Can 51-year-old Couples continue to turn back the clock, play excellent golf on the weekend while keeping his back pain to a minimum? Stay tuned. The beauty of any Major, particularly The Masters, is that anything can happen.

The Irish have been raving about McIlroy for many years now and on Thursday afternoon during Round One of The Masters, the 21-year-old played Augusta National as if he has played it over and over again and has 'mastered' this course for years. This Masters is only his fourth appearance here. His best finish was a tie for 20th place in 2009. But with excellent play on the PGA Tour last year during his rookie season, winning the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship, including carding a 62 in the final round, and with strong performances in both the 2010 PGA Championships and the British Open (where he shot a 63 in the first round), finishing in third place in both Majors, this young man has delivered on all the expectations.

And for most of the day, McIllroy found himself the sole leader of Round One, shooting a 7 under 65. The way he navigated the course, under perfect conditions, also made him look like a player with twice as much wisdom and experience.

But there was drama towards the end of the day as 28-year-old Alvaro Quiros of Spain grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie on 18. Quiros was playing in the last grouping of the day and carded a 7 under 65 to tie McIllroy. Quiros, with 8 birdies and 1 bogie, played the round of his career! He is no stranger to the European Tour where he has won five titles.

McIlroy birdied holes 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14 and 15. No bogies. And he just missed several birdie opportunities which could have added more cushion to his lead.

He said he'll take his '7 under' 65 any day even though he left some birdies out there. McIllroy also said he was very relaxed playing with Rickie Fowler and Jason Day of Australia, both of whom are around his same age and Fowler and Day are both playing in their very first Masters. When asked what the 'young guns' talked about, he said they talked about cars and boats, everything but golf!

McIllroy took off the last three weeks to relax and be refreshed for this first Major on the calendar. He says he feels the first week back for him is usually his best week. He spent the last few weeks in Florida to practice. Whatever he is doing, he should stick with it. The northern Irishman is hot and made the first Round of The Masters a great story.

Start pouring the Guinness. The Tourism Ireland party is held annually on the Thursday of Masters week and it could be even more festive than usual for both the Irish and the Spaniards!

YE Yang and KJ Choi are both at five under.

The top two Americans are Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes who both shot 4 under 68's.

Phil Mickelson finished with a bogie on 18 that dropped him to 2 under.

And Tiger and Freddie Couples both carded 1 under 71's.

Friday's pin positions should be in much tougher positions. Get ready for an exciting weekend of golf. Let's see if the Americans can make some noise and take the attention away from the excellent play of the international players.

Notes From The Masters For Friday Morning, April 8
Co-leader Alvaro Quiro tees off at 10:41 a.m. this morning and when asked if he expected to repeat his opening round score of 7-under-65, he said "it would be stupid to think about shooting 65 again." His previous best score at The Masters in two previous appearances is 75.

Co-leader Rory McIlroy hopes to duplicate his bogey-free 7 under 65 when he gets started at 12:42 p.m. this afternoon. McIlroy's best round in a Major was the 63 he shot in the opening round of last year's British Open at St. Andrews. He then carded an 80 in the second round but still finished tied for third!

Let's see if the Americans can get in the way of the international players who are dominating the leaderboard after the first round and who have won the last three Majors.