Rory McIlroy refuses to get carried away about his chances of successfully defending his title at the Masters, despite getting off to a great start at Augusta National and taking the lead in the clubhouse.
Following a dramatic playoff victory over Justin Rose, one year after becoming the sixth male golfer in history to complete a career Grand Slam, McIlroy has increased his chances of becoming the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles.
McIlroy combined for six birdies and one bogey for an impressive five-under 67, only the second time in his past eight visits that he has started with an under-par round, sharing the early advantage with Sam Burns.
With a win this week, McIlroy will equal Sir Nick Faldo’s record of six major titles.
“It’s a great start but there’s a long way to go,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “I’m in a position to be in the tournament and it’s much better than last year when I started with a seven-point deficit and went to the second round. I can’t move forward, but I’m happy with where I’m at right now.”
“I think I was able to swing freely. Even when I missed my tee shot on the front nine, I kept swinging. It wasn’t like I was starting to get lost. I kept swinging hoping that sooner or later I would find it, and it did.”
“I started stringing together some good swings on the eighth hole and played really good golf from then on.”
Great start to McIlroy’s title defense
McIlroy birdied the par-5 second and bogeyed the next par-4, but the Northern Irishman remained level par from the eighth until back-to-back birdies closed out the first nine.
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McIlroy started the Green Jackets’ defense with a first of 9.34, including two birdies in the closing stages.
The 36-year-old made an impressive par save from the back of the 12th green and made consecutive birdies on the next hole to move to 4 under with four holes remaining. This was the same ranking as on the first day of last year’s contest.
McIlroy tied Burns with a 30-foot birdie on the par-5 15th, avoiding a repeat of last year’s late Thursday stumble when he made two double bogeys in the closing stages and fell seven spots behind.
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McIlroy made his third straight birdie on No. 2 and 9 at Augusta National to move into a tie for the lead.
He missed a chance to make a birdie for the sole lead on the 17th, but found a fairway bunker from the final tee and recovered to make par, tying him for the second-lowest opening round among defending champions at the Masters.
“I thought it would feel different (as defending champion), but when I put the tee on the ground on the first hole and put the ball on the tee, I felt the same nervousness that I always feel,” McIlroy admitted. “It’s my first major of the year and I want to get off to a good start, so it was nice to feel that way.
“If I didn’t feel that way, I think something was wrong. I feel like I settled into the round really well and really quickly.”
He added, “I felt like I got a lot out of today’s round. It was a pretty choppy start. I was hitting a little over the trees the first seven holes, but after the eighth hole I started to string together some good swings.”
‘Escape Artist’ McIlroy does ‘what great people do’
McIlroy only found five fairways off the tee, but his patience was rewarded as he reacted well to each time he was pushed out of position and made five birdies over an eight-hole stretch to push him up the leaderboard.
“He (McIlroy) was an artist today, running away from some of the places he put himself in,” Butch Harmon told Sky Sports. “It was a pretty impressive round to tie for the lead at 5 under.
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McIlroy shoots a 5-under 67 in the opening round of the Masters – see all the birdies he made here
“That’s what great players do, because you can’t do that every time you go into a game. How do you manage that? How do you get around it? How do you make the right putts and keep the momentum going? He (McIlroy) did all that today.”
Sky Sports Golf’s Andrew Coltart added in commentary: “Historically, he should have played a 73 or 74 today, but he turned that into a 67. Great golf from McIlroy.”
Nicklaus backs McIlroy for more Masters history
McIlroy’s impressive opening round came just hours after Jack Nicklaus, who became the first player to successfully defend the Masters in 1966, followed suit.
Looking back at past consecutive Masters champions
“If you want to win two years in a row, you may find conditions that you like, and you may find conditions that you don’t like, and you have to adapt to both,” Nicklaus explained at the honorary starter press conference. “I was lucky to be able to do that.
“Rory (McIlroy) has fallen on hard times and I think he has a chance to do it again.”
Five of the last six Masters winners, with the exception of last year’s McIlroy, have finished in the top three since the opening round, but the star-studded leaderboard has put a lot of attention on the major race.
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Let’s take a look at some of the best shots Rory McIlroy has hit so far at Augusta National.
“There’s a lot of great golfers you have to worry about, not just him (McIlroy),” Jason Day said after his opening round of 69. “McIlroy is off to a great start.
“When you see yourself in the lead at 5 under and you have weather like this, you have to be very patient. You have to get birdies when you can. Don’t try to push yourself too hard.”
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