Yesterday had to be a journalist's dream come true...so many story lines to choose from, I'm sure it was one of those days in the media center where it's harder to trim down your story than make sure you have enough words to fill the space.

Here are the things that caught my attention yesterday...starting with Tiger Woods. If there was any rust in his game, it certainly didn't show yesterday. He might have been slightly off with the putter, but the ball striking was as good as ever and the course management was still in tact as well. The rope hook second shot on #9 to 10 ft or so was vintage Tiger. The one thing that seemed very unusual to me was how much interaction he had with his playing partners K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar. I remember several laughs with them and much more conversation than I've seen before. Lowest opening round for Tiger ever at Augusta, was Thursday just one of those days where it all clicked or is Tiger's game really that sharp already? We'll learn more about that today.

Speaking of Choi and Kuchar, I was very impressed with the rounds they put together as well. Knowing that their group was going to have the largest gallery and dominate the broadcast, they both played beautifully.

How good is Fred Couples playing this year? Obviously the back hasn't been an issue so far with him winning 3 of 4 Champions Tour events (the other a runner up finish I believe) and making it look easy yesterday with the low round of the day - 66. He always plays well at Augusta and had a great chance to win just a few years ago before the putter failed him on Sunday. Can he keep it going for three more days? Given his current form, I wouldn't put it past him to be a factor over the weekend.

Another great story yesterday was Tom Watson...a great round of 67 at age 60. His ball striking is truly amazing. Note to remember - avoid playing someone who warms up by striping 3-irons! Tom showed us last year at the British Open that he still has plenty of game in the tank, but over the course of four days I think the hills and the length of the course will wear him down.

And last but not least, I have never seen so much pollen on the ground in my life. As one who struggles with allergies during pollen season, I would've been eating Claritin-D's like chocolate chip cookies had I been there yesterday. And I thought we had it bad here in Memphis. I'd be shocked if the blowers weren't out on the golf course last night and this morning cleaning that up.

Great first round of action, fantastic leaderboard. Shaping up to be an exciting weekend.