Augusta: A racing heart. Trembling hands. Knots in his stomach.
It could have been a medical emergency for others, but in Rory McIlroy’s case, he felt assured that all was well.
A lot has changed for the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland since he exorcised his demons by winning the Masters last year and became only the sixth player to complete a career grand slam. And yet, some things have remained the same.
That included all the above symptoms of first-tee jitters at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday. The world No. 2 was scrappy for the first seven holes, before finding his range and form and getting through the last 11 holes in five-under par. It also marked only the sixth time in the tournament’s 90-year history that a reigning champion tied for the lead in the opening round the following year.
Asked if he felt any different starting the first major championship of the season, especially having won it after 16 years of near misses and heartbreaks, McIlroy said: “I was nervous, I was anxious just like I always am on that first tee. It’s the first round of the major season, the first round of the 16 most important rounds of the year.
“I’m thankful that I felt the same way as I always have. I think it would be worrisome if I didn’t feel that way. It definitely shows that it still means something to me.”
After his momentous achievement, McIlroy admitted he did not feel the nerves in a few tournaments last year.
“At certain golf tournaments, absolutely, it’s felt a little bit that way. But we’re playing the first major of the year. It’s the Masters. If I felt absolutely nothing on that first tee, that’s not a good sign,” said McIlroy, who was followed by former world No1 tennis star Rafael Nadal during the round.
“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. I knew I was feeling it. That’s a good thing and 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 birdied the second and made a bogey on the third hole, but kept missing fairways and needed to depend on his short game to escape from several tricky situations.
“It felt like I got a lot out of my round today. It started pretty scrappy. I was hitting out of the trees a lot in the first seven holes and then started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole onwards,” who hit only five of 14 fairways, including none until the eighth hole.
“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.
“My hope was to get off to a solid start. I feel like the way I played, five-under sort of exceeded where I thought I would be. I think a fair score for me today would have been like two-under maybe.
“But again, I used my head. I didn’t compound mistakes. That’s just a learning curve that you have to go through around here, and I did it well today.”
McIlroy was joined at the top by American Sam Burns, who eagled the second hole and made four birdies against a solitary bogey.
England’s Justin Rose, the man who extended McIlroy’s wait to extra holes last year, showed just why his game is so suited for Augusta National. The 45-year-old, who has finished second at the Masters on three occasions, shot a three-under par 69, and leads world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (70) by one stroke.
