Free from the pressure of being defending champion, Bubba Watson stressed his desire to claim a second Masters title in three years on Friday as Thomas Bjorn and Jonas Blixt raised hopes of a first European win since 1999.

Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell has taken to social media in an attempt to clarify comments he made about world No 1 Tiger Woods.

LUKE DONALD, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood fill the top three spots on the world rankings going into The Masters – and any one of them could be number one at the end of the week.

It speaks volumes of Tiger Woods’ status that his fellow competitors are thrilled simply to play in the same group as him.

Defending champion Vijay Singh was pleased with his consistency after he opened up a two-stroke lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.