There continues to be an absence of dull moments when Rory McIlroy is around. Just when maybe, just maybe, his followers were daring to dream of Masters glory, Augusta National bit back at the 35-year-old. Plus ça change.
This was box office; the problem being that for McIlroy himself and all those desperate to see him sample Masters success, the reasons were all wrong. Nobody could have predicted this stumble, such was his earlier touch. He was four under par and within three of the leaderboard-topping Justin Rose. The finding of water with a chip from behind the 15th green cost McIlroy an ugly, double-bogey seven. It is precisely the kind of number that can fatally undermine a Masters bid.
McIlroy was to err again, at the penultimate hole. Again, an approach went long. Again, a double bogey ensued. Three holes, four shots back to the course. The grisliest of stuff. A 72 felt like scant reward for so much fine work. That is, however, the nature of this beast. McIlroy has only delivered two sub-70 opening Masters rounds, the last arriving in 2018. He now hopes he can take out understandable frustrations on Friday morning. His response to such a bruising denouement will be fascinating. McIlroy remains a factor in this major, of course, but blows to the guts in Georgia keep on coming. It would hardly improve McIlroy’s mood that his playing partner, Ludvig Åberg, quietly pieced together a 68. Ignore the Swede at your peril; he is the real deal.
McIlroy seemed to play perfectly within himself for 14 and a half holes. There were no moments of drama, no cause for panic. The Northern Irishman’s driving was at its imperious best. He missed a decent opportunity on the opening hole but was one under after three. Further birdies arrived at the 8th and 9th, the latter after a wondrous approach. McIlroy collected another shot at the 13th before missing a chance from 8ft at the next. He had a four iron in hand from the middle of the fairway for his second to the 15th. The ball went long and so much good work was partly undone. McIlroy shook his head as his playing partners holed out. He knows, better than anybody, about the impact of numbers such as seven here.
There are of course 54 holes and hard yards still to cover in this, the 89th Masters edition. Azaleas were not the only flower in full bloom on day one. McIlroy and others will have to topple a resurgent Rose, who signed for a 65. Rose has led or co-led the Masters after 18, 36, 54 and 72 holes yet never donned a Green Jacket. The statistical quirk there relates to his playoff defeat to Sergio García in 2017. The intervening Augusta years have delivered a mixed bag for Rose.
At a venue where experience is key, Rose is worthy of huge respect. His only blemish came at the last after he was unable to scramble a par. Rose had found trees to the right from the tee. Still, he had cause to reflect on an overwhelmingly positive day at the office. At 44, it is perfectly reasonable to believe Rose can still feature in major conversations. He was three under inside three holes.
“Golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years, whatever it’s going to be,” he admitted. “So your opportunity is less going forward, so you have to make the most of it.
“I enjoy the work still, which is a good sign, right. And I think the other measure I have is if I go and play golf by myself in the evening and still enjoy that experience, I know that I still love the game enough to make the sacrifices that are required to play well at it.”
Scottie Scheffler’s 68 looked typically effortless. The world No 1 and defending champion did not drop a shot. Birdie putts were holed from 60ft on the 4th and 42ft on the 16th. In between, this looked a normal Augusta day for Scheffler. He continues to hide in plain sight. Corey Conners, who has three Masters top-10 finishes, sits alongside Scheffler at four under. Bryson DeChambeau suggested he has finally cracked the Masters code courtesy of a 69.
Tyrrell Hatton infamously branded Augusta National “unfair” on a previous visit. His 69 suggested an attitude shift. “I don’t know if I have worked on my patience,” Hatton said with a smile. “I think it just depends what side of the bed I get out of, if I have a little bit or none.
“Obviously today was a good day. I drove the ball pretty well, which in years gone by is something that I’ve struggled with. It’s just so hard. You love being here and it’s very special but at any moment you can just hit a shot and it just does your head in. I just need to keep hitting perfect shots.”
Poor Nick Dunlap slumped to a 90, including a back nine of 47. Fred Couples rolled back the years – again – with a 71. Patrick Reed branded his performance “piss poor” despite equalling Couples’s perfectly decent score. Ángel Cabrera’s major return, post prison, included 75 shots. This was an afternoon in which the Spanish amateur José Luis Ballester delivered Augusta’s very own watergate scandal. None of this should mask what is already a star-studded leaderboard. By close of play, it suddenly felt unsatisfactory that McIlroy does not feature prominently on it. It is the hope that kills us. And him.
