McIlroy off to slow start, albeit still his 2nd best

In his eighth Masters Tournament appearance, Rory McIlroy posted his second-best start Thursday. And it could’ve been better.

Despite making a pair of late mistakes, McIlroy opened with 2-under-par 70. He’s tied for ninth place, four shots behind leader Jordan Spieth.

Last year, McIlroy opened with 71 and found himself seven behind Spieth.

This time around, the Northern Irishman got off to a slow start, playing in the final pairing of the day. He birdied No. 7 to move to 1-under. Later, he drained a 17-foot eagle putt at No. 13 before adding another birdie at the par-5 15th to climb to 4-under for the round, despite playing in windy conditions in the afternoon.

“You have to stay patient and bide your time and pick up your birdies when you can,” he said, “and know that par’s going to be a pretty good score and the golf course is only going to get firmer and tougher as the week goes on with this wind.”

McIlroy, No. 3 in the world, made a mistake at the par-3 16th, hitting his tee shot long. He three-putted from 63 feet to drop a shot.

After making par at No. 17, McIlroy striped his drive at the last. With 157 yards to the pin, McIlroy hit a poor approach, his ball landing in a fried-egg lie in the right bunker. He blasted out and two-putted for bogey.

“Honestly, it was probably a bit of a tired swing,” McIlroy said. “It’s been a long day. And I just came up and out of it. It came out right. And I think that’s the first ever plugged lie I’ve gotten at Augusta, so, yeah, again, knowing that five is going to be a decent score there, so I would take my five and get out of here, get some rest and come back out.”

After playing practice rounds Monday through Wednesday, he skipped the Par-3 Contest. He got some extra rest with his 2:01 p.m. tee time – he watched TV and exercised, though.

McIlroy goes off at 11:05 this morning. He’s looking to get off to a fast start, almost two hours before Spieth begins his second round.

“I felt like I let a couple of shots get away on 16 and 18. But again, I’m sitting here and if someone had have given me a 70 on the first tee, I probably would have taken it,” McIlroy said. “But I feel like I can get off to a good start tomorrow and pick those shots up again in the first few holes and just get off and running again.”