AUGUSTA, Ga. — When Rory McIlroy pushed his tee into the ground at Augusta National’s first tee box Thursday morning, he felt his right hand shake.
It was a familiar feeling, but on this particular day — his first competitive round at the Masters since he secured his long-awaited victory and the career grand slam last year — it was also a feeling he welcomed with open arms.
“I was anxious just like I always am. I’m thankful that I felt the same. … I think it would be worrisome if I didn’t feel that way because it definitely still means something to me,” McIlroy said. “That’s a good thing. That’s why we want to be here. We want to be able to try to play our best golf when we’re feeling like that.”
McIlroy did not, by his standards, play his best golf in the opening round yet still managed his 18 holes with a combination of patience and freedom that resulted in a 5-under 67, good for a share of Day 1 lead with Sam Burns and his lowest opening round at the Masters since 2011.
“I didn’t hit the ball very well the first seven holes, and sometimes here that would lead me to get tentative and a little guide-y,” McIlroy said. “I kept swinging, just trusting that I’m going to find it eventually. So maybe that was a little bit different.”
Despite hitting only five of 14 fairways, McIlroy showed he knows exactly how to score around here, finding birdies on the 13th and 15th holes despite hitting his drives in or behind Augusta’s pine trees, as well as one on the 14th — a hole he played over par last year.
McIlroy said he felt that the way he hit the ball, a fair score for him would have been 2 under, but it was evident that despite hitting wayward shots, he never panicked or tried to do too much.
Last year, his hot start was thwarted by double bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17 and resulted in an opening round of even par. This year, it appeared the steering wheel he had gripped so hard for over a decade was now comfortably in his control.
“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,” McIlroy said. “But I think it’s 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.”
As if shifting gears inside a vehicle, McIlroy showed he knew when to be aggressive and when to be prudent. Earlier in the week he mentioned that the discomfort he felt last year playing Nos. 7, 14, and 17 off the tee prompted him to opt for a more aggressive approach. He hit driver instead of 3-wood on all three holes Thursday and played them in 1 under.
“I think it took me a while to get to that point where, if I focus on the process and the little mini goals of not compounding errors, like today, hitting it in trees and trying to be a hero, making good decisions, thinking my way around the golf course,” McIlroy said. “I think those are the expectations I have for myself. And if I can live up to those expectations, then the scores and the results should take care of itself.”
In some ways, this opening round looked like the victory walk McIlroy never got to have last year as he rescued victory from the jaws of defeat and had to win in a tense playoff against Justin Rose. Flanked by the biggest galleries of the day Thursday, which gave him standing ovations on nearly every green, McIlroy tipped his hat and quietly acknowledged the scenes.
More than that, he delivered a round that was befitting of his title and one that plants a key storyline for the rest of the week: Can he be the first player since Tiger Woods to win back-to-back green jackets?
“I said this when I came in on Tuesday,” the five-time major winner said. “I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one, I do.”
