Rory McIlroy made a small piece of Masters history on Thursday as he gave what is believed to be the first in-play interview at Augusta National.
The world number two spoke to Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman when he was playing the ninth hole, as he went on to shoot a level-par 72 to lie seven shots off the lead going into day two.
Speaking on the interview after his round, McIlroy said: “The club reached out to us last week and just inquired if I would be interested in doing it. I did it a couple weeks ago at the Match Play.
READ MORE: Rory McIlroy reacts to his opening Masters round as he trails leaders by seven
“It definitely feels a little less intrusive with the earpiece rather than someone right up next to you with the microphone like they’ve been doing in Europe for a couple of years.
“I thought it would be a cool thing to do. I did it in Austin and didn’t feel like it took me out of my rhythm in any way or made me think about things too much.
“So it’s nice to provide the audience at home a little bit more insight into what’s going on out here.
“I think with the previous chairman, he definitely brought things forward. Then I think since chairman Ridley has come along, he’s really tried to push the envelope as well.
“So I think Augusta have a great balance of blending that history and that tradition but also making sure we’re keeping up with the times, I guess.”
But not everyone was in agreement with the Holywood native.
One golf fan tweeted: "Rory McIlroy needs to be doing mid-round interviews right now about as much as he needs a lift home off Greg Norman. That was plain weird."
However, another wrote: "Watching Rory McIlroy give an interview while playing the 9th at Augusta was insanely cool. More of that please."
Someone else said: "Anyone else wish Rory McIlroy would focus on shooting low instead of doing interviews half way through his round?"
Meanwhile, one other person posted: "I've always liked Rory McIlroy. But him agreeing to do an ongoing live interview on TV while playing a hole at The Masters makes me like him even more. Fantastic to get a player's commentary on what's happening while it's happening on the course."
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