Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros take first round lead at the Masters – Golf news
Irishman Rory McIlroy and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros posted a score of 7-under par, 65 respectively and share the lead after the first round of Masters.
The four-day major event is being played at the historic par-72 Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia.
This is the first major championship of the year which has a total prize money of US$7.5 million. The winner of the tournament will also scalp 600 FedEx points.
McIlroy teed off in the morning and taking advantage of the early sunny conditions fired three back-to-back birdies starting from the second hole on the front-nine. The early momentum reflected in his shots that he planned on the tee of each hole and it signalled to the rest of the players that the 21-year-old rookie was now ready for the battle.
The Northern Irishman carried the pace to the last hole of the front-nine and successfully managed in holding another birdie, which placed him on top of the leader board.
He marched towards the back and after saving par at the tenth green and rolling a birdie on the 11th. The ninth ranked player of the world signed for two more points and surged into lead.
The rookie was extremely happy with his first round lead. He said, “I think that Augusta National, it takes years and years of figuring out and they make tiny little adjustments here and there, but I feel a lot more comfortable on the golf course this year than I did the previous couple of years, which is great. And it showed in the way I played today. I played some really good golf out there.”
McIlroy held the lead until the afternoon, when Alvaro Quiros reeled three birdies in the front-nine, five at the back-nine and a bogey to take a share in the lead.
The 28-year-old from Spain demonstrated sheer power with his driver and stole the honours of being the longest hitter of the day. He chased the score set by the Northern Irish and finally matched it on the final hole at the back after rolling a birdie putt from 3-feet of the green.
“Well, I think it's time to break par,” said the Spaniard after compiling the score. “I was lucky to make some putts. I hit two bad shots all day and the rest were very good.”
The Spaniard is coming off a recent victory in Dubai and is looking confident with his crisp iron shots.
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