The 2017 Masters Tournament kicked off on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, with the field of 94 players all vying to win the famous green jacket at the year's first major.For the third time in four years there is no Tiger Woods, but the best golfers in the world will all be on show, not least world No. 1 Dustin Johnson.The American comes into this year's Masters on the back of three consecutive tournament wins and is the man to beat.2015 champion Jordan Spieth will also surely be in the mix come Sunday having led after seven of the last eight days of Masters action. He only missed out on back-to-back titles at Augusta when he suffered a back-nine collapse last year and surrendered the green jacket to defending champion Danny Willett.Follow the leaderboard below for updates of the opening day's action in the 2017 tournament:Spieth will need to put the woes of last year behind him if he is to win a second green jacket in three years.The 23-year-old was five shots clear heading into the final nine holes of the 2016 tournament before a bogey-bogey wobble at 10 and 11 was followed by a water-plagued quadruple at the par-three 12th.Per ESPN.com's Jason Sobel, in the lead up to this year's tournament, he showed admirable humour around what happened to him last year, but the wounds will likely still be fresh:Spieth has never finished worse than second at Augustahe tied for the runners-up spot in 2016 and 2014and, while Johnson's recent record at the Masters is not quite at that level, it has been improving.He finished tied-sixth in 2015 and then tied-fourth in 2016, and few would bet against him going even better this year considering the form he is in.As noted by GolfChannel.com's Jay Coffin, Johnson will know how the day is panning out when he sets off in the last group on Thursday, and he is joined by two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson:It could well be Rory McIlroy's year in 2017 as he looks to complete the career Grand Slam.Two days ahead of the tournament's start, he had already logged 99 practice holes.The Northern Irishman said he felt he could have done little more to prepare himself for victory, per BBC Radio 5 live (via BBC Sport):"It's been a quiet buildup compared to previous years, and I haven't minded thatit's been quite nice.I feel good, like my game is there. I feel ready to go.I feel like I've done everything I can do to prepare. It's just a case of going out there and hitting the shots I need to."It is certainly true that the spotlight has been away from McIlroy in the lead-up to this year's Mastersunlike recent editionsas Johnson's form has taken the headlines.That could play into the world No. 2's hands, and he most certainly has the game to claim a maiden green jacket on Sunday.
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