Rory McIlroy: Winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one

“Great start to the week,” he said afterwards.

UP AND RUNNING: Rory McIlroy waves after his putt on the second hole. Pic: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

What was with all the worry? Despite concerns about Shane Lowry’s recent heartbreak and Rory McIlroy’s back injury and competitive edge, they both posted terrific opening cards at the Masters.

Rory McIlroy’s defence of his title began magnificently. He finished with a sublime five-under 67 to walk off tied for the first-round lead. It is his first sub-70 first round at Augusta National since 2018.

“Great start to the week obviously,” he said afterwards.

“Felt like I got a lot out of my round today. It started pretty scrappy. I was hitting out of the trees a little bit the first seven holes and then started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole onwards. Played those last 11 in 5-under.

“Yeah, 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 is a big part of what you have to do around this golf course.” Elsewhere, Sam Burns hit a 67 to marks his lowest opening-round in a major championship in his 23rd major appearance. It was a productive day for Jason Day, Patrick Reed and Kurt Kitayama who all registered a 3-under 69.

Of course, there was speculation that McIlroy needed to feel a fire at his back to perform. In the end, he felt plenty despite being champion and was grateful for it.

“Look, we're playing the first major of the year. It's the Masters. If I felt absolutely nothing on that 1st tee, that is not a good sign.

“So it was nice to feel my hand shaking a little bit when the tee went into the ground and struggle to put the ball on top of the tee. So I knew I was feeling it. That is a good thing. That is why we want to be here. We want to be able to try to play our best golf when we're feeling like that.” By the time he was reaching for his halftime protein shake, McIlroy was two under. His first birdie of the tournament came on the second and even though he only hit one fairway on the front nine, his name was accompanied by a red number on the Augusta National classic scoreboards for the entirety of the turn.

From there, he caught fire. The word of the day around the course was Rory. A year after inexplicably finding Rae’s Creek on the 13th, he laid up with his wedge and made another birdie. This was a man playing with the freedom that came from 2025’s triumph. It instigated a run of positive holes in a row with a long birdie putt on the 15th, in particular, thrilling the patrons.

Meanwhile, Lowry finished his round two under. A crucial juncture came on the fourth. He arrived at that classic short par 4 after a birdie-birdie start. A three-putt saw him score a calamitous double bogey and he dropped another stroke on the sixth.

After agonising late errors in Dubai and Florida saw victory slip from his grasp, the fear was that a bad beginning could rock him. But the Offaly man carded back-to-back birdies from eight.

“I am pretty happy,” he said.

“Obviously I got off to a great start, and I was feeling great. Then obviously I had a mishap on the fourth, and I thought I did a great job of kicking on from there.” It suddenly looked like a easy afternoon. He was chatting jovially with Jason Day about where he was staying, joking with a security guard when he was delayed on the ninth and smiling at a scoreboard operator who was a touch slow updating the panel to reflect that his group was on the hole.

This was a reminder of who he is. A player who made six cuts made in his last six appearances here and was tied third in 2022. On the par-5 13th, a gorgeous wedge rolled in for eagle.

“To be honest, it has been a number that I'm not overly comfortable with or I haven't been, and I did work on it a lot over the last two weeks. It was nice to pull it off.

“I knew when it was in the air, it was really good. I knew it was going to go close, but it was nice to see it go in. It kind of gave me a little jump for the rest of the round.” 

A small frustration may have been a 22-foot putt for par that came up short on the 17th.

“Look, I spoke to this with Neil and Darren over the last few days. You know, you can hit good shots around here and make bogeys, and you just have to roll with it. My thing was is, I felt like I didn't miss a shot in the first four holes and obviously I had that mishap on the fourth green.

“You can get a bit disheartened or dejected by that, but I felt like I'm in a good frame of mind to kind of just move on and move on from everything. I've been around here enough to know that that could happen at certain stages.” 

It was a glorious day in Georgia and it looks set to continue until Sunday.

“I think this could be the toughest Masters we've played in a while,” said Lowry.

“You look at the forecast. They can do whatever they want with the golf course this weekend.

“I think over the last few years we've had a day every year where it has been raining. It has kind of helped us a little bit, but I think before the week is out, it is going to get very, very crusty around here.” 

As a whole, the day belonged to McIlroy. Only three golfers in history have won the Masters. The last was Tiger Woods in 2002.

Now, the Hollywood man is one step closer to joining an elite group.

“I said this when I came in on Tuesday, I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one. I do. It's hard to say because there's still shots out there that you feel a little bit tight with, and you just have to stand up and commit to making a good swing and not worry about really where it goes.

“But I think it is easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that 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.”