It started ‘scrappy’. Then Rory McIlroy took the clubhouse lead
Evin Priest
Augusta, Georgia: A drama-filled first round at the 90th Masters saw Bryson DeChambeau have an implosion in a bunker on Amen Corner as defending champion Rory McIlroy seized a share of the clubhouse lead.
When the opening day entered the afternoon hours, DeChambeau had all but ruled himself out of the April major when he made a triple-bogey 7 after taking three shots to exit a greenside bunker on the par-4 11th. He signed for a four-over-par 76.
McIlroy, meanwhile, had tennis icon Rafael Nadal following in the gallery and set many more tongues wagging with a five-under 67.
The 36-year-old equalled American Sam Burns’s clubhouse lead at five under, while Kurt Kitayama joined Australia’s Jason Day and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed on three under (69). Major winners Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele (70) were at two under.
Admitting he started nervously, Northern Irish megastar McIlroy was uncharacteristically wayward with his tee shots over the first seven holes. But the 29-time PGA Tour winner produced an 11-hole stretch that restored hope he could become just the fourth golfer to win consecutive Masters – following Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.
“It started pretty scrappy; I was hitting out of the trees a little bit the first seven holes,” McIlroy said.
The five-time major champion rattled off birdies at the eighth and ninth before a scintillating stretch of three straight birdies from the par-5 13th ignited his campaign.
“I started to string some good swings together from the eighth onwards,” the world No.2 said.
“I settled into the round nicely even when I wasn’t hitting fairways. I was trying to just get it up around the green and rely on my short game to get it up and down and move on. That’s a big part of what you have to do around this golf course.”
McIlroy, the sixth member of golf’s career grand slam winners’ club, attributed his impressive turn-around to the freedom of breaking his 17-year Masters hoodoo.
“Sometimes here [a poor start] would lead me to get tentative and guide [the club],” McIlroy said.
“I just trusted that eventually I’ll start to make some good swings.
“I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one, I do. There are still shots out there you feel a little bit tight with. But I think it’s easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know I can go to the champions’ locker room and put my green jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day.”
Far less relaxed was two-time US Open winner DeChambeau, who was a pre-tournament favourite having won consecutive LIV Golf titles coming into Augusta.
The YouTube superstar was visibly irritated and short with his answer when asked about almost burying his hopes of a green jacket in the sand on the 11th.
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” DeChambeau said.
The drama is set to continue. A warm and sunny week in Georgia means Augusta National is as firm and fast as it has played in decades, leading McIlroy and others to urge caution fearing a Masters leaderboard reckoning.
“The course is only going to get drier and firmer and faster as the week goes on,” McIlroy said referencing the weather forecast.
“I’ve said for the last few years I’ve started to really relish that type of golf. I really want to excel at that type of golf.”
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