AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy blew past the waiting media and headed straight to the parking lot late Thursday at the Masters.
It was that kind of ending to his opening round.
Seemingly in full command of his game, McIlroy came undone over his final 90 minutes, taking two double bogeys in a four-hole span to slump to an even-par 72 that left him seven shots off the lead.
See how the opening round played out in the 89th Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
It was a stunning end to what had been a steady, methodical performance, with McIlroy plodding his way around an increasingly firm Augusta National and jumping out to the 4-under mark, in an early tie for second place.
But McIlroy laid well back off the tee on the par-5 15th, leaving him more than 230 yards into the green that has been recently redone and, players have commented, is one of the firmest on the course. Even with his towering trajectory, McIlroy’s 4-iron couldn’t hold the putting surface and bounded over the back, leaving a dicey, downhill chip toward the water. Though he appeared to clip his third shot nicely, it had virtually no grab, the ball never checking and trundling off the front of the green and into the pond. After dropping on the other side of the water, his pitch went too long and he then two-putted for a double-bogey 7.
“It’s really firm already,” said Akshay Bhatia, who shot 70 alongside McIlroy. “It’s a very good risk-reward hole. It’s an interesting decision you have to make.”
More straightforward was McIlroy’s second shot out of the first cut on the 17th, but he didn’t execute that one properly either. From 175 yards, his approach sailed nearly pin-high to the back pin and bounced 20 yards over the back of the green. He hit another substandard pitch shot to 25 feet, blew his par putt 6 feet by and also missed that one for a sloppy double-bogey 6.
McIlroy’s par on the last gave him a 72, and he walked stone-faced to the scoring room.
This was inarguably one of the most important rounds of McIlroy’s season, as he entered the Masters – the final leg he needs to complete the career Grand Slam – in some of the best early-season form of his career. He has already won twice, at Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, and leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total. He took two preparatory trips to scout Augusta National over the past three weeks, and he even sat for lunch with six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus to go shot-by-shot with his strategy.
Just twice in 16 prior starts has McIlroy began the Masters with a round in the 60s, both times putting him in a favorable position: In 2011, he opened with a 65 and had a four-shot lead on Sunday before coming unraveled with a closing 80; and in 2018, he used a hot start to play his way into the final group on Sunday (shot 74).
Now, recent history suggests it could be difficult for McIlroy to overcome this deficit: 18 of the last 19 Masters winners were within four shots of the lead after Day 1.
After the shocking finish, he is already seven back, with 26 players ahead of him.
