McIlroy pleased to feel 'hand shaking' on Masters return
First-round joint leader Rory McIlroy says feeling no nerves on the first tee of his Masters defence would not have been a good sign.
Rory McIlroy said he was relieved to "feel my hand shaking" with nerves as he carded a five-under 67 to share the lead after the first round of his Masters defence. Having completed the career Grand Slam with victory at Augusta National last year, Northern Ireland's world number two spoke of feeling "free" in the build-up to this year's tournament. But reacquainting himself with major championship pressure sharpened his focus as he hit six birdies and one bogey in his lowest Masters opening round since 2011, to join American Sam Burns at the top of the leaderboard.
"We're playing the first major of the year. It's the Masters. If I felt absolutely nothing on that first tee, that's not a good sign," said McIlroy of his early nerves.
"So it was nice to feel my hand shaking a little bit when the tee went into the ground, and struggle to put the ball on top of the tee. So I knew I was feeling it. That's a good thing.
That's why we want to be here. We want to be able to try to play our best golf when we're feeling like that. "That feeling went away.