McILROY SHARES FIRST ROUND LEAD AT AUGUSTA
Masters champion Rory McIlroy on the first hole during the first round of the Masters. (Photo: Logan Whitton/Augusta National)
Rory McIlroy made an excellent start to the defence of his Masters title as he shot a five-under-par 67 to hold a share of the first-round lead alongside Sam Burns at Augusta National.
Northern Ireland’s Grand Slam winner, who won his first Masters in dramatic fashion 12 month ago in a play-off against Justin Rose, posted his lowest opening round at Augusta since carding 65 in 2011.
McIlroy’s card showed six birdies – including three on the spin from the 13th – with a solitary bogey on the third to match American Burns, who eagled the par five second on his way to his career best score at the Georgia venue.
It is an ideal start for McIlroy in his bid to become only the fourth player to retain the Green Jacket (Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo are the only other player to retain), while a win would also see him match Faldo’s haul of six Majors.
“Great start to the week obviously,” said McIlroy after his opening round. “Honestly, I couldn’t have got a lot more out of my round today. I feel like I leaned heavily on my experience out there to do that.”
McIlroy has cut an understandably relaxed figure this week, embracing the perks that come with being a Masters winner with the highlight being the Champions Dinner on Tuesday. Many outside observers wondered whether he would have the edge required, but he disproved that notion in emphatic fashion.
Among the morning starters on day one, the 36-year-old birdied the second but gave the shot back straight away with a three-putt bogey at the third. After a string of pars, in part due to impressive recovery play, he finished his back nine with a pair of birdies to hit the turn in two under.
But things were to get better as he made a run of three consecutive birdies from the 13th as he birdied all four par fives at Augusta, with the latter of those the pick of the bunch after holing a swinging left-to-right putt from 30 feet.
He closed with three pars, with little fuss, to ensure a job well done but he knows improvements can be made having hit just five fairways off the tee.
“My hope was to get off to a solid start,” he added. “I feel like the way I played, five under sort of exceeded where I thought I would be or what I wanted to do. I think a fair score for me today would have been like two under maybe with some of the places I hit it.
“But again, I used my head and I got up-and-down when I needed to. I didn't compound mistakes. Again, that's just a learning curve that you have to go through around here, and I did it well today.”
Burns, making his fifth start at the Masters, made an eagle at the second, hitting a brilliant approach to 11 feet with a six iron.
After trading shots at the sixth and eighth, the five-time PGA TOUR winner picked up three shots in a four-hole run from the 12th including at both par fives on the back nine to card his 67.
“I drove it really nice and that obviously helps,” he said. “I think historically people who have success here play the par fives really well, and we were able to do that today. It's a good recipe around this golf course, yeah.”
Patrick Reed, the Race to Dubai leader, sits in a tie for third alongside fellow American Kurt Kitayama and Australia's Jason Day at three under.
A shot further back is world number one Scottie Scheffler and Rose among others, the Englishman having dropped shots at the 17th and 18th in a stumbling finish to what had otherwise been an impressive performance on his 21st Masters start.
"I think overall a good start," said Rose of his opening 70. "Just big-picture, kind of knew the course was going to be playing tricky today, especially this afternoon. Obviously, my day, yeah, spoiled a little bit by two late bogeys, but other than that, I think a good start to the tournament."
Shane Lowry also enjoyed a strong opening round with a two under 70 that contained four birdies and a stunning eagle three at the 13th. Dropped shots came at four, six and 17, but the Offaly is in good shape.
“I got off to a great start, it some lovely shot early on then had a bit of a disaster on the fourth, but I thought I composed myself very well and moved on from that,” said Lowry after his round.
“I plotted my way round the golf course really nicely. Playing tough, I feel like the course is playing crusty enough already, greens are quite firm already. Happy with that.
Of the hole out eagle on the 13th, Lowry said: “To be honest it’s a shot I’ve been working on. Pretty happy, hit some nice shots from that distance today. It was a tricky enough pin up there. I knew it was going close and was nice to see it go in.
“It’s a golf course you can’t try and be perfect around it. You have to try and hit your shots, commit to the shots and see where it leaves you. I think I did a good job of that today.”
Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin got his Masters debut off and running with a three-over 75, which saw him get to the turn in level par before three late bogeys undid some of the good work.