For 17 holes it was turning into a wonderful 37th birthday celebration for Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.

The Swede, currently ranked a lowly 171st in the world, was atop of the Masters leader board with a five under par tally on a rain softened Augusta National course.

However it horribly came unstuck at the par four 18th with Stenson finding trees with his drive before eventually sending spectators scattering when flew the green.

Stenson then played a poor chip putter to some four feet past the hole and missed the putt coming back.

“It wasn’t that stable the whole day,” he later said. 

“I mean, I had made two great eagles, hit some great second shots and made a putt on two par‑5s on the front nine and obviously kept it together, made some good saves, and I even chipped in once for par and really kept it together. 

“But after 11 I didn’t hit one fairway off the tee, and that’s obviously going to cost you at some point. 

“Even though I didn’t expect it to cost as much as it did on 18.”

His ‘8’ now matches the highest score at the 18th with others recording ‘8’ including:

Danny Shute (1959), Homero Blancas (1970), Jumbo Ozaki (1994), Ian Baker-Finch (1995), Arnold Palmer (2000) and Camillo Villegas (2007).