McIlroy battled back from some early setbacks, and trailed by as many as eight shots at one point. That said, he has a well-earned rep as a guy who occasionally makes very crooked numbers on his card, a stumbling block that appeared yet again.He birdied Nos. 2 and 3, then three-putted from 20 feet for a double-bogey on the fourth to wreck his early momentum. If it seems as though he does this all too often, well, congrats. Your memory gets a five-star rating for efficiency. He won't have much room for similar miscues the rest of the way.
Clearly, he has the firepower to offset major mishaps. Moreover, the ending this time was better, not bitter. McIlroy played the last three holes on Thursday in a sloppy 2 over, but was 3 under over the final six holes a day later."I feel great, so much better about myself than I did yesterday," he said.Now he'll be paired for the first time in a weekend round at the majors with Spieth, who won two majors last year, including the Masters. McIlroy tried his best to keep his head down, though not everybody was buying the convenient tone deafness."It doesn't make a difference to me who is up there," McIlroy said. "I want to finish on the lowest score and win the tournament."
Spieth is facing a strong riptide of history, three decades old. Then again, he's done this before, running out front as a marked man in wire-to-wire fashion last year.Henrik Stenson posted this photo of daughter Alice letting the air out of Spieth's tires. He was kidding. I think. — Steve Elling (@EllingYelling)April 8, 2016
The first-round leader has won the Masters 16 times. The only two since 1985? Trevor Immelman (2008) and … Jordan Spieth (2015).
— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) April 8, 2016
Proven players such as Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Day and Paul Casey all were on his heels at times – or at least standing second on the leaderboard – but found multiple bogeys on the increasingly difficult course as Spieth expanded his lead to five as he neared the turn.Just when it looked like a complete reprise of 2016, Spieth proved human when he four-putted the fifth for a double-bogey, missing the last three from inside seven feet. He was the last man in the field at the time without a blemish on his card – and the next 10 players on the scoreboard had averaged almost five bogeys (or worse) by that point.This Driver is better than my other one
In other words
I'm not going to let anyone or myself think about it
That's the mental game of Jordan
— Hank Haney Radio (@HankHaneyRadio) April 8, 2016
Spieth caught them soon enough. He bogeyed four of the last 10 holes and was ordered by officials to pick up the pace on the back nine.Proof that Spieth is indeed human pic.twitter.com/oB4weGwJ8S
— Mike McAllister (@PGATOUR_mikemc) April 8, 2016
David Leadbetter, who last coached Els roughly a decade ago, said the Big Easy approached him this week in Augusta and asked if they could spend some time together. Els also mentioned that he'd begun working with a new putting coach, and Leadbetter assumed it had been an ongoing relationship.Turns out, the new short-game coach – Leadbetter said he didn't know the guy – began working with Els on Tuesday at the tournament site after claiming he could cure his putting yips."I think Ernie is a little fragile about it," Leadbetter told Vice Sports. "And this new guy has him so tied up in knots, he doesn't know what to do and can't take the putter back. I think you saw that yesterday on the first hole."Graphic content warning: Ernie misses another shorty on first hole today. pic.twitter.com/BiYFcNqN3f
— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) April 8, 2016
You can't make this stuff up. Last week, Ernie led field in putting from inside 10 feet, missing twice in 72 holes. pic.twitter.com/1P5V8Fm0BJ
— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) April 8, 2016
Garcia finished with a 75 and at even par overall, remaining within four shots heading into the weekend.Greatest event in golf, with the worst coverageYet again, Augusta National's minimalist approach to its television coverage bit fans in the backside on Friday when key players such as Spieth and McIlroy's rounds went largely uncovered by the club's early online coverage.By the time ESPN's coverage in the States began at 3 p.m., McIlroy was midway through his back nine and Spieth had just made his first mistake of the week, a double-bogey on the fifth hole. If it's any consolation to increasingly frustrated American viewers who have grown used to the wall-to-wall live feeds from other major championships, the coverage internationally is just as brief.Sergio Garcia made a mistake on the 9th hole. Then made it again…and again pic.twitter.com/ZF0c3Y5N77
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) April 8, 2016
Comings and goingsWhile most of the attention this week as far as the 50-something set has been focused on Tom Watson, one of the greatest players of the past half-century, another Masters mainstay said Friday that's he's played his last Masters, too.So viewers are aware, all worldwide broadcasters will begin live coverage at the same time, from 8pm on SS1 and SS4 pic.twitter.com/c4njHSnhaO
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) April 8, 2016
Phil was 1 under thru 3 and in the top 5. How not to play the back nine: — Steve Elling (@EllingYelling)April 8, 2016