Masters Round 1: Rory McIlroy surge plunges to watery grave, strong Aussie start

Rory McIlroy’s worst nightmare has unfolded in absolutely brutal scenes at the Masters just as everything was going well for him.

England’s Justin Rose has started The Masters on fire to lead the tournament at -7, but Rory McIlroy’s stunning back nine collapse was the talk of the opening round at Augusta National on Friday (AEST).

The 44-year-old former world No.1’s round of 65 sits three shots clear of Canadian Corey Conners, defending champion Scottie Scheffler and last year’s runner-up Ludvig Aberg.

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McIlroy was among that chasing pack for much of his round, but his Masters demons resurfaced with double bogeys at 15 and 17 plummeting him back to even par.

After launching his second shot over the back of the green, the world no.2 chipped through the green and into the water on the par 5 15th on his way to putting a seven on the card.

McIlroy’s chipping blunder mirrored that of US Ryder Cup villain Patrick Cantlay, who made that same mistake twice on his way to a triple bogey three groups in front.

The Northern Irishman then made a similar error on 17, sending his approach into the par 4 over the back, before chipping well past the hole and three putting.

Rose, who finished runner-up at Augusta National in 2015 and 2017, put on an absolute clinic earlier in the day as he reeled off eight birdies, only dropping a shot at the least hole.

Rory McIlroy was cruising at 4-under before the chip into the water. Photo: Harry How/Getty Images/AFP.

The Englishman kicked things off with a hat-trick birdies to start his day before getting on a roll once again near the turn with another run of three straight birdies at eight, nine and ten.

Scheffler meanwhile, went about his business with minimal fuss.

The world No.1 went bogey free as he made four birdies, highlighted by a monster 62 foot putt at the par 3 fourth.

62 feet for birdie. Scheffler reaches two under par for the Tournament. #themasterspic.twitter.com/4McwujgliJ

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025

Conners impressed from the morning field, coming home with three birdies in his last four holes, while Aberg showed why he is among the favourites for the green jacket.

The Swede dazzled with a runner-up finish in his major debut twelve months ago, and stormed into contention late in the day with birdies at 12, 13, 15 and 18.

One shot behind that group is reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and fellow LIV star Tyrell Hatton.

DeChambeau had an up-and-down round as he made seven birdies, only bettered by Rose, to show off his firepower but off set them with four bogeys.

Hatton on the other hand was far more consistent, only dropping a shot at the 17th.

Bryson DeChambeau moves into a tie for second. #themasterspic.twitter.com/n082h1YWPy

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025

Jason Day was the best of the Australians, having finished his round at -2.

Day went bogey free as he started his round with 11 straight pars before back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 put him among the early contenders.

“It was very consistent which was good. A couple of birdies on the back side, didn’t get myself out of position (too often),” Day told Fox Sports’ Paul Gow.

“When I did, nice solid short game and it just a very, very good start to the week so very happy with it.”

Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee are both in the clubhouse at -1 after opening rounds after fighting back from early bogeys to stay in the hunt.

Smith struggled from tee-to-green, making just six greens in regulation for the day. Staggeringly, he was still under-par with his freakish short game seeing him make just one bogey for the day, while he drained a birdie putt from the fringe of the 6th green, and another on the 18th.

Smith also made some classy par-saves, notably on the back-nine par threes after he went long on 12, and into the bunker on 16, as well as a magical chip at the ninth.

“It was a good grind today. I wouldn’t say it was my best stuff out there. Managed to kind of get it around and get a good score in. Didn’t leave myself too much work to do the next few days, so all in all, pretty good,” Smith told Fox Sports’ Paul Gow.

“I had a couple of good (up-and-downs) today. There were a few good ones, but yeah nine was good. Only hit two greens on the front nine so I was scrambling my butt off there.

“Chipping and putting felt great. Driver actually felt alright, just hitting the greens was a bit of a struggle today. I’ll go hit some and see if we can figure it out.

“(The course is) definitely firming up. Those new greens like 15 and 16 were bricks, it’s gonna be a good watch this afternoon. It’ll be good fun out there tomorrow afternoon, particularly if we don’t get any rain. It’s a good fun test out here and it’s only going to get harder.”

Lee meanwhile was similarly pleased with his first round efforts.

The Houston Open champion almost a fortnight ago had a little issue with a wayward tee shot at the first with the new “mini-driver” he has put in his bag this week, but recovered to not drop another shot all day.

“Happy, it’s a good start. You can play ourself out of contention early, and it was just one of those mentally grinding days,” Lee said.

“You couldn’t make too many birdies, it was quite tough. Didn’t have any bogeys since the first hole, it was really good.”

Cam Davis fell away disappointingly with a double bogey at the par 3 16th and a bogey at the 17th leaving him +2 for the round.

Adam Scott meanwhile has plenty of work to do to ensure he does not miss the cut at The Masters for the first time since 2009.

The 2013 champion shot +5 with the projected cut line standing at +2.

The round that attracted plenty of attention for all the wrong reasons however, was Nick Dunlap shooting an 18-over par 90 — the worst first 18 holes at Augusta since Ben Crenshaw’s 91 in 2015.

SECOND ROUND TEE TIMES (FRIDAY/SATURDAY)

9.40pm. -- Cam Davis, Rafael Campos, Austin Eckroat

9.51pm. -- Ángel Cabrera, Laurie Canter, Adam Schenk

10.02pm -- José María Olazábal, Thriston Lawrence, Brian Campbell

10.13pm -- Bubba Watson, Matthieu Pavon, Evan Beck

10.24pm -- Tom Hoge, Matt McCarty, Christiaan Bezuidenhout

10.35pm -- Charl Schwartzel, Denny McCarthy, Hiroshi Tai

10.52pm -- Max Homa, Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun

11.03pm. -- Dustin Johnson, Nick Taylor, Justin Hastings

11.14pm. -- Sergio Garcia, Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger

11.25pm -- Patrick Cantlay, Rasmus Højgaard, Matt Fitzpatrick

11.36pm -- Brooks Koepka, Russell Henley, Sungjae Im

11.47pm -- Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland

11.58pm-- Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia

12.15am. -- Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry

12.26am -- Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood

12.37am -- Sahith Theegala, Sepp Straka, Sam Burns

12.48am -- Davis Riley, Patton Kizzire

12.59am-- Kevin Yu, Jhonattan Vegas, Nicolai Højgaard

1.10am -- Mike Weir, Michael Kim, Cameron Young

1.21am -- Zach Johnson, Joe Highsmith, Chris Kirk

1.38am -- Danny Willett, Nico Echavarria, Davis Thompson

1.49am -- Bernhard Langer, Will Zalatoris, Noah Kent

2am -- Cameron Smith, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai

2.11am -- Fred Couples, Harris English, Taylor Pendrith

2.22am-- Corey Conners, Brian Harman, Stephan Jaeger

2.33am- Patrick Reed, Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An

2.50am -- Robert MacIntyre, Billy Horschel, Nick Dunlap

3.01am - Collin Morikawa, Joaquín Niemann, Min Woo Lee

3.12am -- Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley

3.23am-- Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Jose Luis Ballester

3.34am-- Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Tyrrell Hatton

3.45am -- Tony Finau, Maverick McNealy, Thomas Detry

Originally published as Masters Round 1: Rory McIlroy surge plunges to watery grave, strong Aussie start