Masters latest: Slow start for McIlroy while Hovland, Rahm and LIV's Koepka share lead

SLOW START: Rory McIlroy got off to a slow start at Day 1 of the Masters in Augusta. Pic:Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Have you heard the one about the Norwegian, the Spaniard and the LIV golfer who walked into Augusta and all shot 65?

This is not a joke. Seriously, the leaderboard after one round of the 87th Masters Tournament is so incredible it’s not funny. It is quite arguably the best first-round leaderboard ever assembled in any major championship.

European Ryder Cup mates Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm share the top of the first-round podium with four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who has always been fueled by disrespect and has a lot in the tank to burn as a LIV outsider. They each mounted different assaults to the 18-hole summit: Hovland with a flawless card; Rahm playing the last 17 holes in 9-under after a four-putt double to start; Koepka with a fast start and faster finish to crash the lead party.

But that trio has so many heavyweights lined up behind them that you’d be hard-pressed naming a handful of guys in the top 25 that is not capable of winning the green jacket by the end of the week. There are 14 major champions, two Olympic gold medalists and 13 of the top 19 players in the Official World Golf Ranking sitting T17 (2-under 70) or better.

The only key piece currently missing from the sub-par party is Rory McIlroy, who posted a pedestrian even-par 70 and will have to play catch-up on Friday morning before the bad weather rolls through.

“Yeah, just a little untidy in places,” said McIlroy. “I missed a couple of tee shots left on 7 and 17 that I sort of got penalized for, like an untidy bogey on 3, a three-putt on 11. So just stuff like that that's, you know, it's not disastrous, but I just need to sort of tidy it all up.

“I didn't feel like I was too far away today. I made five birdies but just a couple of too many mistakes on the card.” 

Thursday was there for the taking with warm temps and a dry course that players took advantage of.

Hovland set the pace, going out in 31 and adding birdies at 11 and 13 in a bogey-free effort. “Before I knew it, somehow I was 6-under through 11, and yeah, just kind of coast in to 65. So that was awesome,” Hovland said.

Rahm pulled a “Seve” with a four-putt on the first hole to open with a double. But from there he played perfect golf and joined Hovland with a birdie at 18.

“I remembered Seve's quote, I think it was here at the Masters, when he 4-putted,” Rahm said. “I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Well, I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.’ Move on to the next. I carried a little bit of that negative energy into the tee shot on 2, hit it about 10 yards further than I usually do and moved on with my day.

“If you're going to make a double-bogey, might as well do it on the first hole of the tournament when you have plenty of holes to make it up.” 

Koepka, fresh of a victory in last week’s LIV Golf event in Orlando, Florida, has always thrived on negative energy and closed with consecutive birdies to make it threesome at the top. His lone bogey of the day came at the par-5 13th.

“I think I missed a short one on 6, 8, 9, 10, so they were all kind of inside 10 feet,” Koepka said. “Could have been really low but I'll take it … 7's pretty good.” 

Rising superstar Cameron Young, a runner-up in last year’s Open Championship, is tied with the resurrected Jason Day in fourth at 5-under 67. Ireland’s Shane Lowry is in the impressive fraternity of players who shot 4-under 68, including defending Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, fellow major winners Adam Scott and Gary Woodland, Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, WGC Match Play winner Sam Burns and reigning U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett.

“I think it was important to shoot a good score today,” said Lowry of his 68 that tied his low at the Masters. “I was trying not to put too much pressure on myself to do so, but, yeah, I knew going into today how important today's round is because who knows what the next three days are going to hold.” 

At 3-under is Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa and Tony Finau. Lurking in the crowd at 2-under are a trio of reigning major champions Justin Thomas (PGA), Matt Fitzpatrick (U.S. Open) and Cam Smith (Open).

It goes even deeper than that in red figures, with past Masters champs Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and 63-year-old Fred Couples at 1-under, not to mention world No. 4 Patrick Cantlay.

Tee times got pushed forward a half hour earlier on Friday, giving McIlroy a little more time to try to post a low number and get himself back into the mix before the rain rolls in late Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.

“I've got a quick turnaround overnight and looking forward to getting back on the course pretty quickly and obviously trying to get myself back in the thick of things,” McIlroy said.

“I think when you're chasing, it's probably the harder the better because it plays easier for everyone. The more difficult the course is, I think that's probably favorable conditions for chasing a little bit or trying to catch up.

“Look, I don't know what's going to happen (Friday). Hopefully we don't get affected by it too much, and we can get out there and play 18 holes uninterrupted. I can shoot something in the mid-60s and get myself back in it.”