AUGUSTA, Ga. — On the surface anyway, Rory McIlroy seemed entirely at ease Thursday evening. As he stood outside the Augusta National clubhouse processing an opening 70 at the Masters, McIlroy hit all of the right notes.
Yes, he conceded, the bogeys he carded on the 16th and 18th holes stung, the type of setbacks that can gnaw their way into a sleep pattern. But look on the bright side, McIlroy insisted: Thursday’s score was his second-best in eight opening rounds here. He’s in the top 10 at 2 under par.
And on an unpredictably gusty afternoon, playing in the day’s final threesome, McIlroy retained the patience he has been vowing will be one of his biggest weapons this week.
Yes, the red “6” defending champ Jordan Spieth cemented atop the leaderboard earlier in the day had a much more impressive look.
“But,” McIlroy asserted, “I feel there’s enough good golf in me to where I can reel him in over the next 54 holes.”
Major championships are rarely won with an abundance of irritation. So rather than letting his late two-stroke backpedal linger, McIlroy left the course making a concerted effort to put his day inside an optimistic frame.
“If someone had have given me a 70 on the first tee,” he said, “I probably would have taken it.”
This is how it has to be for McIlroy in his second attempt to complete the career grand slam. The 26-year-old from Northern Ireland has decided as much, understanding he’ll need to keep his psyche precisely calibrated.
How can he push to achieve such a legendary feat without wanting it too much? How can he keep his urgency tempered with the proper doses of patience?
McIlroy changed plenty in his preparation this year. He avoided an early visit for added practice, played only one ball during his rehearsal rounds this week and reminded himself to avoid the temptation to fill his brain with course knowledge. That can be a well-intentioned chore that ultimately short-circuits the brain.
“All of a sudden you start thinking about all the places that you’re not supposed to hit it instead of the place that you are,” McIlroy said.
‘A shot in the arm’
Just in case McIlroy needed more external pressure on his quest to join an iconic quintet of players who have won all four majors — Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen — Player himself began Thursday morning with an impassioned hope that McIlroy succeeds this week.
“We need something that’s going to give (recreational golf) a shot in the arm,” Player declared.
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As grooved as McIlroy’s swing may be, the ballet inside his brain could guide the week.
On Thursday, a clutch birdie putt at the 15th hole carried McIlroy to 4 under par. On the walk to the 16th tee, he allowed himself visions of a promising finish.
Then came a deep tee shot and accompanying three-putt. Two holes later, with 157 yards to the 18th hole, McIlroy sent his approach into the greenside bunker.
Of the mechanical breakdown, he diagnosed that “it was probably a bit of a tired swing.”
And the impossible lie he faced in the sand? “I think that’s the first plugged lie I’ve gotten at Augusta,” he said.
Again, though, he looked for comfort, accepting the bogey as the punctuation on an otherwise acceptable 70.
A test of patience
What a long day it had been for McIlroy, who was awake at 7 a.m. but had to wait 7 hours for his tee time. So he first reached for the remote and tuned to “Today.”
“Wake up with Savannah (Guthrie) and Matt (Lauer) usually,” he said.
McIlroy eased into the morning, ate breakfast and scurried off to the gym.
And then he had a second breakfast. And then he ate some lunch.
“I feel like I was eating all day,” he said. “I was just trying to pass the time.”
Just another test of patience in a week full of them.
McIlroy has always had the game to conquer Augusta National. After Thursday, 17 of his 27 career rounds here have been below par. He finished in the top 10 the last two years and held the 54-hole lead in 2011.
Still, as the only major played on the same course every year, the Masters offers unique psychological challenges.
With personal history around every turn, McIlroy understands how he built that four-stroke lead through three rounds five years ago and how he blitzed the final 45 holes in 15 under last year.
But McIlroy also has demons. The second-round 77 that wiped him out of contention in 2014. The shaky front nine of his Friday round last spring, leaving him a country mile behind Spieth.
Most notably, there was the indelible Sunday nightmare in 2011, when in his bid to win his first major, McIlory came unraveled on the back nine and hemorrhaged to an 80.
“Confidence is a very fragile thing. And especially around here,” McIlroy confessed Tuesday. “One or two bad shots and they can start to haunt you for the rest of the tournament.”
Vanquishing those hauntings takes poise and perspective. That’s why McIlroy pushed to move past Thursday’s bumpy ending as quickly as possible.
His post-round interviews remained pleasant. He signed a few last autographs for kids waiting in the dusk. And then he jogged toward the parking lot, understanding Friday will offer more of the same.
Twitter @danwiederer