If Danny Willett was a sailor, he would have steadied the good ship HMS Sheffield on the difficult Augusta Sea.

After a choppy start on two -over after three, the defending champion has sunk six pars on the bounce. 

And now the Englishman has a chance of a birdie on nine after sticking his 135-yard approach shot to within the length of a average-sized cobra. 

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Thomas Pieters has a seven-foot putt for another birdie at the 17th...

Nope. That stays up and he'll have to make do with par. 

And the chasing pack are catching up. This time it's another Englishman in Justin Rose. 

He's two under through 13. Everyone fancies it.

We have an Englishman back in the lead, well a share of it at least...

It's 22-year-old Matthew Fitzpatrick... surely Sheffield can't be about to produce another Masters champion?

Well, the youngster has birdied the par-four 13th to move alongside Thomas Pieters at the top of the leaderboard.

A long way to go, but he'll be enjoying this.

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World number one Dustin Johnson:  "I have been worked on all morning and obviously I can take some swings, but I can't swing full, I can't make my normal swing and I didn't think there was any chance I could compete."

Johnson said that the accident happened when he was heading outside to move his car before his son Tatum got back from daycare. 

He added: "I was wearing socks and slipped and went down the three stairs.

"The left side of my lower back took the brunt of it and my left elbow is bruised as well." 

Right then, it's been nearly half an hour since a Dustin Johnson update. 

Even with the world number one declaring himself out of the Masters, the story continues to unfold...

A classic case of who dunnit? Here's what the American had to say...

Thomas Pieters has edged his nose in front again. 

It's the Grand National on Saturday, but this race for the clubhouse lead is already turning into something of a photo finish...

He birdies the 16th to move to two under par, one stroke ahead of the 14-man chasing pack.

Just a couple of fences, sorry holes, to go for the Belgian.

Does Rory McIlroy think he's on a beach break, rather than competing for the Masters at Augusta?

For a third hole in a row he's left playing in the sand. Let's see how he escapes this one...

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Age: 37   World rank: 11

Major wins: 0

Sunday will see many at Augusta bring up a certain Seve Ballesteros. The five-time major winner would have been 60 on the final day of this tournament.

Sergio Garcia, a man tipped to follow the great man's footsteps early in his career, is still without a major win, despite owning 30 professional victories.

He is at level par through four holes alongside Lee Westwood who has made up for his early bogey to also reach even par. Shane Lowry birdies four to reach level also, a nicely drained 20 footer.

Those dropped shots by Thomas Pieters and Kevin Chappell leave Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler as the co-leaders on -1. Briefly.

Rose bogeys the 12th after three-putting, with Fowler dropping a shot a couple of holes ahead.

That leaves THIRTEEN men tied in the lead on one-under. They've bunched together like a group of Grand National horses. Someone has got to emerge before the finish line...

This is the current weather forecast from Augusta.

The wind will be the major issue this afternoon, with BBC Weather saying we could expect gusts of up to 44mph from 19:00 BST.

But there looks to be perfect golfing weather in store for the weekend.

Friday: Sunny, with highs of 19C and gusts of 16mph, so still a fair bit of wind about.

Saturday: Sunny, with highs of 21C and gusts of 2mph.

Sunday: Sunny with highs of 25C and gusts of 5mph.

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Keith Alderson:  Had tee times for St Andrews Old Course twice, first time broke my thumb the week before second time broke my arm. never played it.  

Olly Broadhead:  Stood on a wasps nest looking for a lost ball on the 6th. Total of 13 stings on my body. Round over.

I feel your pain Olly.

Someone fetch a spade. Rory McIlroy is in the sand again at the second.

After a 347-yard tee shot, McIlroy, donning his long-sleeved red jersey, then pulls it to the left of the green and that means bunker for the world number two.

The Northern Irishman chips out and it runs past the pin, but he salvages par. Phew.

American Kevin Chappell was also in that leading pack, but he drops a shot on the last to fall off the top.

He pushes his approach on the par four, chipping on to 12 feet, only to miss the putt which would have saved par.

Nevertheless he is joint clubhouse leader alongside compatriot Russell Henley.  

They're dropping like flies at the top of the leaderboard. Thomas Pieters was buzzing along nicely on the front half, leading by four shots before coming unstuck at Amen Corner. The young Belgian has dropped another shot at 15 to fall back to -1.

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Imagining returning to the scene of your greatest nightmare. Stomach churning, hands slightly shaking, doubt ripping through your mind.

That would be me and thee. That's not Jordan Spieth.

The new tournament favourite does not make the same mistake as last year, hitting his tee-shot with extra beef to find the back of the dancefloor.

A huge sigh of relief from the galleries. Two putts, a par, demons exorcised.

Danny Willett finds a bunker at the sixth but scrambles out to make a third successive par.

It's tee, fairway, green at seven for the Englishman, who rolls it up towards the pin and then taps in for another par.

The 2016 champion seems to have regained some of that composure that saw him win his Green Jacket.

-2  Thomas Pieters (after 14 holes), Rickie Fowler (13), Justin Rose (11) 

Selected others: E Jordan Spieth (12), +1 Rory McIlroy (1)

The rest of the tee-off times  can be found here , or find out more about the  BBC's coverage here.

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Andy Sullivan drops out of share of the lead, leaving Justin Rose as the only Englishman still up there. 

The 30-year-old from Nuneaton hits the green in three on the par-five 16th - ideal - but then is let down by putter. Three stabs with the short stick see him drop a shot off the pace.

Ah, back to the golf. That's what we're here for after all. I wonder if the players on the course were aware of the Dustin drama? 

Murmurings must have spread around the course quicker than juicy gossip around the office. Surely?

So how does Rory McIlroy start his bid to complete a career Grand Slam? 

With a bogey, that's how. That first hole at Augusta has proved tricky from the off on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman strikes his tee shot sweetly, making 320 yards... but it catches a bunker lurking to the far right of the fairway.

He's short of the green from the sand, eventually making it down in five.