AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy’s opening round at the Masters began with a thud and ended with a bang. It all added up to 1-under 71, four shots behind leader Lee Westwood.
McIlroy spoke earlier in the week about how he had come to peace with last year’s disastrous final round, especially the triple-bogey-7 he took on the 10th hole that essentially lost him the green jacket.
Still, he was shaky on the first hole and opened with a double-bogey-6. But he rebounded with birdies on Nos. 2, 8 and 9. He bogeyed 11 and 13, but closed with consecutive birdies on 17 and 18, two holes that did not produce many low numbers.
“To finish under (par) for the day I’m really pleased,” McIlroy said.
