WITH ALL THE ACTION FROM AUGUSTA STORY New coach... but no new dawn for Rory
RORY MCILROY spoke of his reboot under new coach Pete Cowen being a journey – but it was a wild off-road trip at Augusta yesterday.
Mcilroy lost control at the wheel in an erratic opening round which included two visits to the water and a stray second shot at the seventh which added to his unwanted Masters legend by cannoning into the leg of his father, Gerry. No harm was done to his dad but terminal damage was sustained to his chances of a first Green Jacket with an opening 76 – his highest first round in 13 visits to Augusta.
It was a start that leaves the outof-sorts Northern Irishman fighting to avoid what would be only his second missed cut at the Masters.
Mcilroy has six top10 finishes at Augusta but the image of him head in hands again after drilling his approach to the 13th into Rae’s Creek said it all.
He had warned beforehand that expectations should be tempered for the season’s first Major given the work he has just begun behind the scenes. He was right.
There was no margin for error with the wind blowing and the greens glassy. Unfortunately for Mcilroy he made a boatload of them.
Mcilroy has become a notoriously slow starter at the Majors.
Since he won his last one in 2014, he stands at 32 over in the first round. He is 64 under in rounds two to four combined.
True to form yesterday, some unexpected excursions put him in early trouble with three successive dropped shots on the front nine.
One-way misses might have been manageable, two was a recipe for confusion and a visible drain on confidence.
Mcilroy did pull a shot back at the par-five eighth after a terrific approach but a costly three-putt from 18 feet at the next sent him to the turn three over.
He was fan bothering again off the tee at the 11th and it all went wrong again with his second shot funnelling down into the water.
A bogey followed which would have been even worse but for a 30ft putt dropping.
You might have thought that could have been a turning point but he was fighting a losing battle with himself. The splashdown at 13 confirmed as much.
It was a calamity from the fairway and Mcilroy knew it from the moment he struck his second shot.
The ball was still in flight when he swished the air with his club and as it hit the water his hands went behind his head.
It was a picture of despair almost on a par with that when he blew his best chance at the Masters a decade ago and led to a bogey.
Although he clawed a shot back at the par-five 15th Mcilroy could not rescue a round that had long since unravelled.
His Masters race is already run.