But a brutal back nine left the Victorian, and the Australian tilt, in need of resurrection at Augusta National.

Leishman is no stranger to wild swings at the Masters and he found himself once again in the midst of a rollercoaster ride on Thursday as hard and fast conditions and tricky winds caused havoc for seemingly everyone except England's Justin Rose.

Rose fashioned a brilliant seven-under-par 65, on a day where the scoring average was 74.5, to take a four-shot buffer into the second round.

Just 12 players were under par, none of them Australian, with Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and American left-hander Brian Harman the next best after 69s.

Despite an incredible start from Leishman that included four birdies in his opening six holes and a place at the top of the leaderboard, the 37-year-old had to settle for an even-par 72 and a tie for 13th.

"I got off to a really good start, made some really good putts, and then kind of hung on coming in. It got pretty firm. It was tough all day," Leishman said.

"It wasn't the finish I was after, but also I didn't throw it away, either. To shoot even par on a day like today, I was pretty happy."

"I got off to a really good start, made some really good putts, and then kind of hung on coming in. It got pretty firm. It was tough all day." – Marc Leishman

His total was two better than 2013 champion Adam Scott and 2020 runner-up Cameron Smith, who each bogeyed the final hole to post 74s.

Matt Jones was also tied 30th at two-over in his first round at Augusta National since 2014.

But former World No.1 Jason Day managed just two birdies to go with seven bogeys in a rough 77 that had him near the back of the 88-man field.

Leishman was the only player in the field to birdie the opening hole and his efforts on the 4th and 6th holes were as good as you'll see on the hallowed Augusta turf.

But after a couple of pars he added four bogeys between the 9th and 14th holes and scraped his way into the house from there.

He was proud of his fight; particularly given memories of 2014 could have easily derailed his game.

Back then Leishman came out firing in the second round with three quick birdies that took him to the tournament lead but then imploded to drop 10 shots in the next 12 holes and miss the cut.

He was adamant it wouldn't be quite as bad this time around.

"I did lose my head a bit that year, and I think I only still missed the cut by a shot or two," he said.

"So I know that if you just keep your head on for every shot here, there's holes you can birdie and eagle."

- Ben Everill, Australian Associated Press