Rory McIlroy admitted he made too many mistakes at the Masters after hitting a fan with his opening tee shot following a pre-round pep talk from his new performance coach.
The world No.3 and hot favourite carded five birdies and six bogeys in a rollercaster opening 73 to finish his round in tied 47th place – the same as 61-year-old Sandy Lyle.
It was his worst start to the first Major of the year since 2010.
Since Tiger Woods won here in 2005, the last 13 champions have ended the first round in the top 10.
Before his latest attempt to complete a career Grand Slam, the new Players champion had spoken about a new perspective in his life to ease the pressure on his game.
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McIlroy was accompanied on the practice range and putting green by the bearded Dr Clayton Skaggs. He specialises in exercise and nutrition – and also has the air of a new-age guru about him.
It is a work in progress as this was the same old Rory McIlroy at the Masters as Augusta demons came back to haunt him again.
Last year in the final round, he blocked his opening tee shot 40 yards right. If the world No.3 is trying to be patient, he did not wait long to the same mistake this year.
After final words of advice from Skaggs, twitchy-looking McIlroy sprayed his opening tee shot into the crowd on the right of the fairway. Hitting a fan on the leg stopped his ball running into more trouble. His second shot hit a tree and ricocheted across the fairway before he chipped up and missed a 17-foot par putt. His wild start set the tone for his day.
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His first birdie at No.3 was given back with a three-putt on No.6. After picking up a shot at No.8, he bogeyed 10 and 11.
The four-time Major winner then came charging back with birides at 13, 15 and 16 – including an amazing shot over the trees onto the green at 15 after he had pulled his drive and nailing 30-footer at 16.
But after a bogey at 17 when he missed the green and a seven-foot putt, McIlroy pulled his final tee shot and missed from four feet. He planned to head to the practice putting greens after his post-match interviews.
“It was okay,” claimed McIlroy of his second worst opening round here. “The conditions weren't that difficult. I felt the course was there. It's soft. There's not much wind. I made five birdies, that wasn't the problem.
"I just made too many mistakes. And that was the problem. And I'm making mistakes from pretty simple positions, just off the side of the green, 17 and 18 being prime examples of that.
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“I think I've sort of been through it all here at this golf course. You know you're going to have chances. There's birdie opportunities.
"I can accept mistakes if I'm trying and it's not a mental error or I haven't got into places, so I can accept some mistakes, but six bogeys out there is a little too many and I'm just going to need to tidy that up over the next few days.”
When he completed his round, the four-time Major winner was only four shots off the clubhouse lead. “I'm sort of surprised I am not that far off the lead,” he admitted.
“I'm sort of surprised that there hasn't been lower scores out there. It's there for the taking and I'm surprised someone hasn't run off.”
