Familiarity breeds success for surging Rory McIlroy on Masters opening day
The defending champion didn’t wilt when beginning his attempt to retain his Masters title and is co-leader overnight alongside Sam Burns at five-under
So much of the charm and success of The Masters is based around the consistency and familiarity of the tournament. You turn on the television and you see those familiar vibrant green shades , the shimmering water on 12, the pinks and the creams of the blooming foliage. The course is the same every year, the traditions are the same every year, and you can throw tariffs, trade wars and the Strait of Hormuz at Augusta but sandwich prices will still be the same every year.
But as far as continuity goes, having last year’s winner, Rory McIlroy , tied for the lead after the first round of this year’s tournament at -5 might be a little bit much. Perhaps time is simply a flat circle and we’re stuck in a seamless loop of Masters championships, unable to see where one ends and the next begins. Or perhaps, just perhaps, he remains one of the best golfers on Earth, now experienced enough in tickling a ball around this verdant corner of northern Georgia to know the course well – and to be able to profit from those historic heartbreaks and failures.
At this stage it’s probably important to note that Sam Burns is right there too, the young American carding a strikingly consistent 67 in only his fifth participation here, with the best approach play of anyone at Augusta on Thursday. McIlroy with caddie Harry Diamond on the 18th green (Getty) But Burns is one of golf’s band of pre-superstars. He joins the likes of Ludvig Aberg, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia as those tipped to eventually win a major and this could yet be Burns’s week, the biggest of his life in that case.
Just ask Rory, though. The Masters is about proving it. Any idea of McIlroy being zen and at peace with the world now that he’s completed the career slam is far from the truth.