AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Pretty good for a guy with the self-professed touch of a "bricklayer."

Spain's big-hitting Alvaro Quiros, who professed to having hands of stone compared to countryman and two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros, beat his personal best at Augusta National by a whopping 10 strokes on Thursday with a 7-under 65 to claim a share of the lead with Rory McIlroy.

Quiros, an emerging European Tour bomber who missed the cut in his two previous Masters appearances and had never posted a score better than 75, birdied three of the last four holes while playing in the final group of the day to tie McIlroy, whom he happened to run into Wednesday night in the Augusta Mall.

Odd that the two co-leaders, staying in the second-biggest city in Georgia, would intersect on the eve of the tournament, no? McIlroy was buying an American football and accompanied by several friends when he saw Quiros, an extrovert if ever there was one.

"I was watching Rory play with a rugby ball with his friends in the middle of the parking lot," Quiros said, laughing. "Did he tell you that? He was doing terrible."

Quiros, 28, has charisma to burn and plenty of energy, too. At least he did Thursday, when he chatted non-stop with his caddie, who is in his first week on the bag. Quiros sacked his former bagman and hired Robert Karlsson's old looper.

"It's like in soccer, or in football," he said. "When a team is playing bad, you cannot change the 22 players.  The only thing that you can change is the coach, isn't it? In my case, it's the same. You know, I cannot change myself. Well, I'm trying to change myself but it doesn't work."

A few weeks ago, Quiros said he had the hands of a bricklayer compared to Ballesteros, whom he called an artist.

"The hands of a bricklayer, everybody knows I'm not the most skillful guy with a 58 [degree wedge] in the hands," he laughed.

By the way, Quiros might be right about McIlroy's passing form. Check out this Twitter picture Rory posted on Thursday night.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For Ryo Ishikawa and at least one of his countrymen, a happy day turned into yet another tragic one when they completed the first round at the Masters on Thursday.

Up and on the course early, the Japanese superstar didn't learn that a second major earthquake had rocked his homeland until he was informed after posting a 1-under 71 by the press.

At first, he didn't even understand the questions, thinking the questions related to the quake that devastated the northern part of Japan three weeks ago.

Ishikawa, who seemed at a loss for words when told an aftershock of at least 7 on the Richter Scale had struck Thursday, said he would do his best to male some fans smile back home. Beyond that, he feels as helpless as the rest of us.

"I understand that people ... they are living in hell," he said somberly. "I would love to show the energy and power of what golf can bring to those people."

Hiroyuki Fujita, who shot a 2-under 70, felt equally adrift. 

"I think I'm just happy that whatever I do and how I play will encourage people in Japan," Fujita said.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Here's a play on words that pretty easily summarizes the situation of the current world No. 1 as it relates to Augusta National.

You'll never wear the sport coat if the course doesn't fit you.

Germany's Martin Kaymer seems destined for his fourth missed cut in as many Masters appearances after blowing up with a 6-over 78 in the first round that left him dejected and confused.

Kaymer has been working on hitting a draw in order to accentuate any chance he has of winning back-to-back major championships. Instead, it's back to the drawing board. Augusta National is clearly a mystery he isn't close to solving.

"Obviously it's frustrating if you never play well," he said. "It's just a shame that it's obviously a huge tournament here and if it doesn't really suit your eye and you know that quite well, it's a little frustrating, yeah."

Kaymer's new right-to-left ball flight?

"I was trying," he said politely. "It didn't really work out."

Now he's got to stand on the gas and hope for the best on a track where he is a combined 18 over in seven official rounds.

"No, there's not really a game plan," he said. "I don't really know how to play the golf course. I don't know, I can think about another hour or hour and a half or two hours, and I just don't really find a solution.
 
"I think that maybe I got to sit down with Bernhard Langer later and ask him, you know, he won here twice and I think I can only get good advice from him."

On his own, he had no answers and faces a minimum of 18 more difficult questions.

"Yeah, I need to try something different again," he said. "I don't know what I have to do here. Maybe one day it will work out."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Graeme McDowell, always an animated conversationalist, probably proved that he has a future in broadcasting when he was asked for a recitation of his opening round at the Masters on Thursday.

It was succinct, spot-on and there wasn't much need for elaboration from the reignng U.S. Open champion, really.

"Well, I three-putted 10, three-putted 13, three-putted 14, three-putted 15," McDowell said. "That was kind of my day summed up right there."

No kidding. McDowell, playing alongside Tiger Woods, finished with a 2-over 74 that leaves him in jeopardy of missing his second straight cut this spring.

On a course where putting is paramount, McDowell, who had rolled the ball beautifully most of the year, completely lost his touch on the curvy Augusta National greens. 

"I was in control of the ball pretty well," he said. "But when I threepputted 13, it knocked the stuffing out of me a little bit.  I made a few ragged swings coming in."

Northern Ireland countryman Rory McIlroy, who has been mentored by McDowell, shot 65 to take the early lead. McDowell knew he was missing a chance to light up the place.

"It's a hell of a score, don't get me wrong, but the pins were setup for scoring, the fairways are running quite slowly, which really helps around the greens, because the ball stays on the upslopes," McDowell said. "There's no doubt that that was on today. But you have to play great golf.

"You have to hole putts and you know if you got out of position it was a difficult golf course. But it was there for the taking today."

Instead of taking, he was mostly raking.