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Geoff Ogilvy carded an almost flawless three-under-par 69 to head the Australians, four strokes from the lead after the opening round at the Masters.
Ogilvy recorded only one bogey, a three-putt at the sixth hole, in a tidy performance that left him equal seventh after a day of low scoring in ideal conditions at Augusta National.
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros shot 65 to lead by two strokes from Koreans Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson bogeyed the last for 70, while Tiger Woods shot 71.
“I’m pretty happy with the way I played,” said 2006 US Open champion Ogilvy. “If I’d had a crazy putting day I could have gone pretty low but it was a pretty fair score.
“I haven’t been lucky enough to play this course in weather like this very often. The pins aren’t savage, the weather’s perfect.
“I shot 70 in the first round the first time I played here, which was very satisfying, but I like how I played today.
“Obviously there are a few guys who had a few lower but three more (69s) and I’ll probably be looking semi decent.”
No other Australians broke par, although Adam Scott and Jason Day matched it with 72.
Scott’s broomstick putter passed its first Augusta examination as he overcame a typically poor start.
A double bogey at the par-four first, where he pulled his tee shot into the left pines, left Scott wondering whether he might be in for another long week at Augusta National.
But a birdie at the par-five second proved the perfect tonic and by the end of his day he was reasonably pleased.
“I wasn’t super sharp with anything, not quite in my rhythm but I haven’t shot myself in the foot,” said Scott.
“For me here over the years, two-over through six (holes) is about even, so it would be really nice to get off to a good start one of these days.
“I was in poor shape from the get-go. It was just a bit of a grind. I’m certainly going to need to play some good golf from here on, but you don’t win it today, although you can certainly lose it.”
Scott, who switched to a long putter in February after years of inconsistency on the greens, had a couple of early hiccups but putted well after that.
He holed several testing putts on the back nine, the sort that in past years would often slide by the hole.
At the par-five 13th he holed a 1.5-metre downhill putt for birdie, and he saved par from a similar distance at the very next hole.
“Early on I was misaligning and I corrected that on the back nine and made a couple of good ones,” he said.
“That was a good feeling.”
Day, in his Masters debut, finished strongly to salvage a respectable score from what could have been a considerable wreck.
He double-bogeyed the par-four 11th before reeling off four consecutive birdies starting at No. 13, the easiest stretch of holes on the course.
“I had to stay patient,” said Day, who played with McIlroy.
“I’m just glad to get out with even par. I just need to tighten up the swing and hit a few more greens.”
It was a poor day for their other three Australians, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby, who all carded 75.
McIlroy took advantage of perfect early conditions to set an impressive target that was matched by Quiros, who played in the days final group.
“I’ve spent the last ten days down in Florida doing a lot of good work with my coach, Michael Bannon, and I feel very comfortable with my game, and that showed,” McIlroy said.
“I played some really good golf and it was nice to see a few putts drop in, as well.
“It’s a great start to this tournament, and hopefully I can build on it.”