AUGUSTA — The sun was up, the wind was down and Rory McIlroy strutted out to resume his chase to win his first Masters and complete the career Grand Slam. For 14 holes on this idyllic afternoon, he sailed along.
Then, disaster.
McIlroy arrived at the par-5 15th hole at 4-under par and locked in. He smashed his drive down the middle of the fairway, then ripped an iron shot that landed on the green, took a big bounce and trickled off the back. The ensuring pitch shot was ticklish and dangerous and McIlroy badly misjudged it, knocking it past the hole, down the sloping putting surface and into the pond. He then trudged out to the drop zone, pitched on and two-putted for double-bogey 7.
That was bad.
Then it got worse.
Two holes later and perhaps still a bit dazed, he hit another approach shot over the green and then short-circuited—he blew the pitch shot 28 feet past the hole, missed that par putt, and then botched the 6-foot comebacker for bogey. From 4 under to even in three holes. He staggered in with a par on 18 for an even-par 72, trailing the leader Justin Rose by seven shots.
McIlroy will now have to pick himself up and chase down the defending Masters champion and one of his stalwart Ryder Cup teammates, among a pack of others, to finally land his white whale.
Scottie Scheffler, who won the green jacket in 2022 and ’24, teed off three hours before McIlroy and looked every bit like his unflappable, top-ranked self. Scheffler rolled in birdies on Nos. 2, 4 and 8 to stamp his name on the leaderboards.
62 feet for birdie. Scheffler reaches two under par for the Tournament. #themasters pic.twitter.com/4McwujgliJ
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025
Scheffler's only hiccup came at the par-5 13th, where he three-putted and made par. He later drained a 42-footer on 16 for birdie and signed for a bogey-free 68 that—watch out—leaves him right where he wants to be.
"I think anytime you get close to the lead, it's going to be easier for you to win the golf tournament. That's a simple fact of the matter," he said. "You get off to a good start, statistically you're going to have a better chance to win the tournament."
For now everyone will chase Rose, who shot a career-best 65 to lead Hatton and Scheffler by three. Rose birdied three of his first four holes and made the turn in 31 to surge into the lead.
"Starting the day it was very much just into my own bubble, my own game. And you're off to a good start, and then you're aware you're in the tournament from the word 'go' and your name is on the leaderboard," Rose said. "The crowd around, you know you're playing well, and you get energy from them as well.
"And then there was a nice special run, 8, 9, 10, and got to 6 under. That's when the day felt a bit different. That's when I felt like I was potentially doing something definitely more on the special side."
Rose got all the way to 8 under and cruised until the 17th, where he flared a drive into the pines right of the fairway and was lucky to escape with par. He wasn't so fortunate at 18, when he hit essentially the same wide-right drive, punched out of the loblollies and made his only bogey.
"Buried the putt at No. 16, and at that point maybe got ahead of myself," he said. "Because I kind of felt like 17 and 18 were potential birdie holes with where the pins are. So I felt like, you know, I was definitely looking forward and looking to do something special today, at that point."
Rose's round was still the most special of the day. He has a strong track record at Augusta but no victories—he finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and lost a sudden-death playoff to Sergio Garcia in ’17. At 44, the Englishman remains a European Ryder Cup fixture, and he would be the second-oldest Masters champion behind Jack Nicklaus, who won his sixth Masters at the age of 46 in 1986.
Thursday also marked the fifth time Rose has led or co-led after the first round, breaking a record he shared with Nicklaus.
Scoring conditions on the opening day could not have been more ideal.
Canada's Corey Conners matched Scheffler at 4 under. It's Conners's eighth start at Augusta, where his best finish is a tie for sixth in 2022.
Tyrrell Hatton, playing in the group behind Scheffler, was at 4 under for most of the closing nine before failing to get up and down from behind the green on the par-4 17th. He finished with a 3-under 69. Late in the day, Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champion, matched the score of his fellow LIV golfer.
"I feel like I've got a golf swing that is favorable right now; it's just not dialed in like I want it to be," DeChambeau said before heading back out to the range. "I need to go work on that a little bit and get comfortable for tomorrow."
McIlroy made birdies at Nos. 3, 8 and 9 and made the turn at 3 under. It was his best opening-day front-nine score since 2011, when he went on to take a four-shot lead into the final round and shot 80. But Thursday's stunning doubles on 15 and 17 leave him with a steep climb to get back into the tournament.
Akshay Bhatia, Jason Day, Aaron Rai and Harris English signed for 2-under 70s and share seventh place.
There will be a piece in Masters history on the line in Friday's second round: In 2023, Fred Couples became the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters. On Thursday, he birdied No. 1 and holed out on 14 for eagle en route to a 1-under 71. Now 65, Couples will have a chance to reset his own Masters record.
Into the hole from 191 yards. Fred Couples eagles No. 14! #themasters pic.twitter.com/5KD2bMUKv6
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Late Blunders Cost Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose Leads After Day 1 at Masters.
