AUGUSTA — A walk around Augusta with Rory McIlroy has drama in it even on days when Justin Rose goes birdie crazy, Scottie Scheffler does what Scottie Scheffler does and a 21-year-old amateur takes a leak in Rae’s Creek.
It was into a quintessential Georgia afternoon that McIlroy emerged, fluffy white clouds easing across the sky and mint juleps cooling patrons on the clubhouse lawn. Cries of “Rory” rang about the first tee as he made his way from the practice green, all of it a familiar soundtrack to one of the most popular players in the game.
Those not so familiar with the scene, golf tourists if you like, immersing themselves in the Masters vibe, asked which one was McIlroy. “He’s the winner, honey,” said a fan, reflecting the love for the Northern Irishman in this parish. It is the all-consuming interest in him that McIlroy must manage every time he tees up his ball, particularly here, a place that has failed him in 16 prior visits.
It is not only the hopes of the patrons he carries. The legendary figures who set the show in motion with the ceremonial tee-shots six hours earlier, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player, each offered McIlroy as their tip for glory. And it wasn’t only McIlroy’s swing that swung it for Player.
“He does a deadlift of 400 pounds. I don’t know if you’re aware of what a deadlift is. 400 pounds. If you do 100 pounds, it’s exceptional.”
McIlroy with caddie and childhood friend, Harry Diamond (Photo: Reuters)Watson read the result in the tea leaves. “I just have a gut feeling that Rory is the guy that’s going to win this week. That’s the bottom line.” It was left to Nicklaus to add a note of caution, notwithstanding the obvious affection he has for McIlroy.
“I sat down with Rory last week. We had lunch, and we were talking, and I said, Rory, I know you prepared for Augusta; tell me how you’re going to play the golf course. We went through it shot for shot.
“He got done with the round, and I didn’t open my mouth. And I said, well, I wouldn’t change a thing. That’s exactly the way I would try to play the golf course. The discipline to do that is what Rory has lacked in my opinion.
“He’s got all the shots. He’s got all the game. He certainly is as talented as anybody in the game.
“But if you see his history the last few years, he gets to a place a lot of times where a seven or an eight pops up, and that keeps you from getting to where he needs to go.”
Water for Rory on the 15th! pic.twitter.com/vkARe0QFd8
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) April 10, 2025
Nicklaus signed off by offering Scheffler as the player capable of dominating this era in the way he did his, which proved prescient. Scheffler was already three under par when McIlroy hit his first shot and on his way to Amen Corner, where his young, Spanish playing partner, US Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester, would shamelessly urinate in the holy water of Rae’s Creek.
So many of the moments before the announcer calls out your name are performative. McIlroy was studied in his refusal to engage with playing partner and Ryder Cup team-mate Ludvig Aberg when they left the range. He would eventually offer his hand on the tee, as is the custom, but the atmosphere was too tense for conviviality.
McIlroy was the first to hit and a beauty it was, drawing awed appreciation from a gallery packed five deep. His approach to six feet offered a sumptuous opportunity to strike early. The putt was tentative and stayed out. It wasn’t the seven identified by Nicklaus but it was, perhaps, an early sign of the tension that he must conquer if he is ever to win here.
That miss fed into a poor tee shot at the par five second, finding the bunker on the right, blowing the birdie chance. A brilliant pitch at the third redressed the balance giving him a straightforward birdie. Perhaps that would settle him down. The chat with Nicklaus was all about being patient, missing in the right places and keeping bogeys off his card. In other words being Scheffler, who eased to a bogey-free 68.
He was faithful to that model with par saves from 12 and seven feet at the fourth and fifth. What was missing was the spectacular that powered Scheffler forward. When you are holing from 62 feet on the fourth and 42 feet on the 16th, it has a way of inflating your sails.
square GOLF Amateur golfer in hot water after urinating in creek at the Masters
Read More
McIlroy laboured on, managing birdies at the eighth and ninth to reach the turn three under par. Another at the par five 13th took him alongside Scheffler on four under par. Suddenly the idea of McIlroy rising to claim his due began to harden into something more than hope.
And then came the par five 15th. Oh Rory. His four-iron to the green would have looked perfect to him but landed hot, rolling through the back. His pitch, benign as it looked, kept on rolling, and rolling, and rolling past the pin and down the slope and into the water.
From nowhere, it seemed, just as Nicklaus warned, a seven popped up and four under became two under.
Two more would go at the 17th to take him back to level par. What could and should have been a marker to herald a mighty weekend turned into another soul-wrenching round at the Masters.
Hence then, the article about i watched every shot rory mcilroy made on masters day one it was going so well was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I watched every shot Rory McIlroy made on Masters day one – it was going so well )
Also on site :
- BTS Dominates YouTube’s Global, U.S. Charts
- Quest Global est reconnue comme un leader dans le rapport ISG Provider Lens® 2025 Report for Manufacturing Industry Services and Solutions
- NYT Mini Crossword Answers, Hints for Thursday, April 2, 2026