AUGUSTA — Rory McIlroy played the first round of the Masters like a guy who knows how to win here, because he has. He wasn’t great, but his score was. His drives were not precise, but his thinking was. He shot a 67 that might have been a 77 two years ago.
Certain former champions post great scores at Augusta National time and again, no matter how they hit it, because the memory bank is always open. Nicklaus. Couples. Spieth. Langer. Mickelson. Woods. They don’t necessarily win a second Masters—but they post better scores, relative to the field, than they would just about anywhere else that week.
