Thanks for reading and join us again for round two. Rory McIlroy has the opportunity to join a very elite club this week because only three men have successfully defended the Green Jacket. The three current members of that club are Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. What an incentive and what a prospect. Here’s Ewan Murray’s report of the first round.
And that’s it for the first round of the 90th Masters. Rory McIlroy chose the appetizers, starters, main and dessert for Tuesday night’s Champion’s Dinner – and on Thursday he had all but Sam Burns for afters.
Only 16 golfers beat par today. That figure might matter because last year Rory McIlroy was the first Masters winner since Tiger Woods in 2005 to not break par in the first round (McIlroy equalled par with a 72, Woods needed 74 blows). And, in all, 25 of the last 30 Masters winners broke 72 in round one. The difficult conditions today might impact on that trend but, if not, there are now only 16 golfers who can win the Green Jacket this week.
-5: Burns (F), McIlroy (F)
-3: Kitayama (F), Day (F), Reed (F)
-2: Lowry (F), Schauffele (F), Rose (F), Scheffler (17)
-1: Li (F), Taylor (F), Fleetwood (F), Campbell (F), Rai (F), Bridgeman (F), Woodland (F)
