Updated: Friday, 12 Apr 2013 10:40 | Comments
Rory McIlroy: ‘I felt like I played well and gave myself plenty of opportunities’
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Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy went into the second round of the Masters separated by just two shots today, but the omens looked far better for Woods than the man he recently succeeded as world number one.
Woods declared himself satisfied with an opening 70, two under par, that left him four shots behind overnight leaders Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman, on a day when 33 players in the 93-strong field broke par.
However, McIlroy was among those players who failed to finish in red figures, the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland carding five birdies and five bogeys in his 72.
McIlroy identified cutting out the “silly mistakes” that he has been bemoaning for most of the season as the key.
“I felt like I played well and gave myself plenty of opportunities,” the two-time major winner said. “I just made some silly mistakes, a couple of three-putts on the back nine. I made enough birdies but I just need to cut those mistakes out and I’ll be fine.
“I turned in two-under par and everything felt good. That was the story of the day; any time I got a bit of momentum I gave it straight back. Around this course you really can’t do that.”
“Any time I got a bit of momentum I gave it straight back. Around this course you really can’t do that” – Rory McIlroy
And to perhaps make matters worse, Woods has started with a 70 on four previous occasions at Augusta, going on to win in 1997, 2001 and 2002 and finishing ‘only’ sixth in 2009.
The world number one, who has won three times already this season and is seeking a fifth Green Jacket, carded three birdies and one bogey and said: “It was a good day, a solid day.
“I thought the greens were a little bit tough in the sense that they just didn’t have the sheen to them, they didn’t have the roll out. A couple of putts, we were talking about it in our group, just weren’t that fast.
“It was benign, especially starting out. The wind picked up in the middle part of the round and it got a little bit swirly there at Amen Corner, as usual.
“But overall I think the biggest challenge today was just the speed of the greens. They just weren’t quite there. They looked it, but just weren’t quite putting it.
“We have a long way to go. It’s going to change dramatically by Friday afternoon (when Woods will be in the penultimate group) and I just have to make the adjustments.”
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