Rory McIlroy at Masters 2016: Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction from Thursday
As the golf world once again looked up at Jordan Spieth in his quest for another green jacket, Rory McIlroy put himself in a strong position to catch the defending champ Thursday.
McIlroy carded a two-under 70 during the first round at the Masters, putting himself four strokes behind Spieth. Sitting two shots clear of any other golfer, Spieth again showed an unmatched mastery of the Augusta course. Justin Ray of Golf Channel noted McIlroy is beginning to come close, though:
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McIlroy played his typical brand of golf—alternating between unstoppable and incomprehensible. He carded four birdies against as many bogeys, peppering in a beautiful eagle on the par-five 13th.
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | |
| Score | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 34 | |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | |
| Score | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
The score was McIlroy's second-best first round at Augusta, ranking behind his seven-under 65 in 2011. In his six other appearances, he was sitting at no better than one under through his first 18 holes. He's instead done most of his damage on the weekends, with his last four scores in the 60s coming in the third and fourth rounds.
Par fives were McIlroy's saviors Thursday. He played the course's four long holes at four under and all the others at two over. Two of his four bogeys came on par threes, as he struggled with ball placement with his irons.
McIlroy's first four holes were perfect examples of how his day was going to play out. He turned in easy pars on the two par-four holes (No. 1 and No. 3) while hitting his day's first birdie on the par-five second and his first bogey on the par-four fourth.
A pair of birdies at No. 7 and No. 9—both featuring strong all-around play—helped McIlroy make the turn at two under. He gave back a stroke on No. 11, but he had his best hole of the day on No. 13. Long off the tee, McIlroy put himself on the green with a strong approach and finished the job with a beautiful uphill putt.
Michael Shamburger of the Big Lead captured the putt:
The putt brought McIlroy to three under overall. Another birdie on the par-five 15th moved him to four under, within two strokes of Spieth.
Unfortunately, that's where the positives ended. McIlroy concluded his day with a bizarre trio of holes that offered a glimpse at why he has yet to win a green jacket. He three-putted from 60-plus feet out at No. 16 to move back to three under, and a failure to get up and down from a sand shot on No. 18 caused him to finish at two under.
Boxer Carl Frampton was nonetheless impressed with McIlroy's performance:
Contextually, this was a fine round. McIlroy is within shouting distance of Spieth in a tie for ninth place. His afternoon was better than Jason Day's, who shot 41 on the back nine after a sensational front to finish even.
"I feel like I'm a good enough player," McIlroy said, per Phil Casey of the Independent. "I feel like I've got everything I need to become a Masters champion. But I think each and every year that passes that I don't, it will become increasingly more difficult. So there's no time like the present to get it done."
It's hard to argue with McIlroy's point. He's posted only two over-par rounds in his last 13 at Augusta and has seven straight under-par rounds. If it weren't for the fact that Spieth is a Masters savant, McIlroy would be feeling better about his first 18 holes.
Still, with 54 remaining, McIlroy is in a fine position to win his first green jacket.
Post-Round Reaction
"I let a couple shots get away on 16 and 18...bit of a tired swing (on 18)," McIlroy said, per Brian Wacker of PGATour.com.
McIlroy also spoke on Spieth, telling reporters the 2015 Masters champion "is very comfortable here and is going to be tough to beat this week."
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