McIlroy, Burns Co-Leaders

Rory McIlroy hit only five fairways on Thursday and still shot 67, which tells you how much control mattered more than pure driving at Augusta National in Round 1. Sam Burns matched him with a 67 of his own, and the two finished the day tied at 5 under. (pgatour.com) They did not just edge in front. McIlroy and Burns were two shots clear of the next group, with Kurt Kitayama, Jason Day, and Patrick Reed at 3 under, while Scottie Scheffler opened with a 70 and sat three back. (golfchannel.com) The round turned on the middle of the course, where Augusta usually asks players one question over and over: attack or back off. Burns made birdies at the 12th, 13th, and 15th, and the PGA Tour said his 67 was his lowest Masters round in five starts. (pgatour.com) McIlroy got there differently. He birdied the 8th and 9th, then made another run with birdies at 13, 14, and 15, squeezing a 67 out of a day when he was often playing from the wrong part of the hole. (pgatour.com) That is where this Masters has changed shape. Golf Digest reported before the tournament that Augusta National had no rain in the forecast and was set up as a rare fully firm-and-fast test, with Jordan Spieth saying it would be “hard to get it to stay on some of the greens” unless players were coming from the fairway. (golfdigest.com) Yahoo reported the same thing early in the week from the practice grounds, with Cam Smith saying the course was “already pretty firm” and likely to play firm and fast all week. In that kind of setup, a safe shot can still run too far, like a bowling ball on a dry lane. (sports.yahoo.com) By late Thursday, Golf Channel noted that only 18 players were 1 under or better at 6:30 p.m. local time, and five of the six names near the top had finished before 4 p.m. as the course got tougher in the afternoon. The field was not getting pushed back by rough or wind so much as by bounces and speed. (golfchannel.com) That makes the tie between McIlroy and Burns more interesting than a normal first-round leaderboard. Burns got there by playing Augusta’s scoring holes cleanly, while McIlroy got there by surviving imperfect ball-striking and cashing in when the course briefly let him. (pgatour.com) McIlroy is also chasing a piece of Masters history that almost nobody gets. The PGA Tour noted that only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods have won back-to-back Masters titles, and McIlroy is now 54 holes from joining that list. (pgatour.com) Burns is chasing something different: his first green jacket, from a position that usually forces players to keep choosing between patience and greed on every par 5. If Augusta stays this dry through the weekend, the tournament may not go to the player who attacks most often, but to the one who knows exactly when not to. (golfdigest.com)