AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — As Rory McIlroy was warming up on the practice range Thursday morning, Jack Nicklaus was busy touting the Northern Irishman’s game by saying he had a “very, very good chance” to repeat as Masters champion.
McIlroy spent the rest of the day proving him right.
The 36-year-old McIlroy opened his title defense with a 5-under 67 to claim a share of the early lead with Sam Burns at Augusta National and position himself for a run at becoming
only the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.
“Rory’s got the monkey off his back, and I think he has a very, very good chance to repeat,” Nicklaus said early Thursday after serving as the Masters' honorary starter.
After years of heartbreak and close calls at Augusta National, McIlroy beat Justin Rose in a playoff last April to complete the career Grand Slam in his 17th Masters start. So the pressure to win has dissipated.
McIlroy said earlier this week he was much more relaxed ahead of this year's tournament after years of putting too much pressure on himself.
He played like it.
He shot 34 on the front nine and then kicked it into overdrive on the 13th hole. After his tee shot sailed right and well into the pine straw, McIlroy spent more than 10 minutes trying to clear patrons out of his way before delivering a perfectly placed punch out between the tall pines into the middle of the fairway.
He followed with a pitching wedge just past the hole and then rolled in a lengthy downhill putt for a birdie. Two more birdies followed on Nos. 14 and 15, moving him into a familiar spot atop the leaderboard.
He finished with six birdies and one bogey.
Nicklaus was the first to repeat at the Masters, winning in 1965 and 1966. Nick Faldo (1989–90) and Tiger Woods (2001–02) matched his feat, but nobody has been able to repeat since.
Nicklaus said repeating is not easy.
He broke the Masters scoring record with a 17-under 271 in 1965, then returned the following year to find a course with a much different feel.
Nicklaus finished 17 shots worse at even-par 288, but still won in a playoff.
“You had totally different conditions, and that’s what you put up with,” said Nicklaus, who has won a record six Masters. “If you’re going to win two years in a row, you’ll find conditions you like and maybe you don’t find conditions you like, but you’ve got to adjust to both of those. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.”
On Tuesday, McIlroy said this year feels “completely different” than the pressure he endured at previous Masters.
“I feel so much more relaxed,” McIlroy said. "I know that I’m going to be coming back here for a lot of years, going to enjoy the perks that the champions get here. It doesn’t make me any less motivated to go out there and play well and try to win the tournament, but yeah, just more relaxed about it all.”
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