Rory McIlroy is relishing the possibility of challenging conditions at Augusta Natioanl as he looks to play himself back into contention at the 87th Masters.
The Holywood native, who needs to claim a coveted green jacket at Augusta National to complete a career grand slam, could only card an opening 72 on Thursday to lie seven shots off the lead shared by Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka.
With bad weather forecast, Friday’s tee times have been brought forward by 30 minutes with McIlroy among the early starters hoping to get all 18 holes in without disruption.
READ MORE: Rory McIlroy reacts to his opening Masters round as he trails leaders by seven
“I think when you’re chasing it’s probably the harder the better,” McIlroy said. “The more difficult the course is, I think that’s probably favourable conditions for chasing a little bit or trying to catch up.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen on Friday. Hopefully we don’t get affected by it too much and we can get out there and play 18 holes uninterrupted and I can shoot something in the mid-60s and get myself back in it.”
The challenge faced by McIlroy was compounded by the strength in depth on the leaderboard, with Cameron Young and Jason Day two off the lead and seven players a shot further back on four under.
That group included defending champion Scottie Scheffler, former Open champion Shane Lowry and 2013 winner Adam Scott, as well as US Amateur champion Sam Bennett.
Tiger Woods faced an uphill battle to avoid missing the cut for the first time as a professional after an opening 74.
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