His temper was understandably in direct distinction to that of McIlroy, who was rightly happy with himself. He started at 10.31am and didn’t hit a fairway till it was approaching 1pm – lacking six in succession. It shouldn’t be ideally suited however Augusta will be performed that means for those who keep aggressive.
He birdied the second, courtesy of a fantastic pitch to 3 toes, and the following par 5, the eighth, when launching a choked-down three-wood from 269 yards to 25 toes. On the ninth, he took benefit of lastly finding the reduce stuff, conjuring a wedge to eight toes. He was two underneath, in all probability had no proper to be, however he appeared unflustered.
From the thirteenth, he reeled off three birdies. He sliced his drive into the bushes on the appropriate, however chopped out and chipped to 14 toes. On this par-five final yr, in that excruciating finale, he contrived to put up after which knock his third into Rae’s Creek.
This was a unique pin place and a unique day – a Thursday has nothing to a Sunday – nevertheless it additionally felt like a unique McIlroy. Stay calm, take the probabilities after they current themselves. He unleashed a marvellous drive down the 14th and clipped his strategy to seven toes.
On the par-five fifteenth, he was vast once more, this time on the left. Twelve months earlier than, he had pulled off one of many nice Masters pictures when drawing his second across the bushes to 5 toes (bear in mind: he missed the putt). This was no time for heroics and he cosied his ball again onto the golf green and from there performed a so-so wedge to the again of the inexperienced.
No matter, from 30 toes he rolled it down the slope and clenched his fist when it will definitely dropped. He might need picked up one other from 9 toes on the seventeenth however it might be churlish to moan.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2026/04/09/the-masters-2026-live-scores-leaderboard-round-one-augusta/