Masters Day One: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry bid for Augusta glory

McIlroy signs off with a solid opening round of 71 It was a solid if not spectacular opening round from Rory McIlroy at Augusta.  He finished off with an up-and-down at the 18th to leave himself six shots behind the clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau after day one of the tournament. A birdie at 14 was the highlight of McIlroy's round, as it took him to -2 at the time.  A missed birdie opportunity from five foot at the par three sixteenth was followed up by a bogey at 17. But McIlroy remains in the hunt.

Leaderboard:

Bryson DeChambeau -7 (65)
Scottie Scheffler -6 (66)
Danny Willett -4 (68)
Ryan Fox -3 (69)
Cameron Davis -3 (15)

Selected others:
Rory McIlroy -1 (71)
Shane Lowry +1 (11)
Jon Rahm +1 (73)
Tiger Woods -1 (8)
Brooks Koepka +1 (7)

McIlroy signs off with a solid opening round of 71It was a solid if not spectacular opening round from Rory McIlroy at Augusta. 

He finished off with an up-and-down at the 18th to leave himself six shots behind the clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau after day one of the tournament.

A birdie at 14 was the highlight of McIlroy's round, as it took him to -2 at the time. 

A missed birdie opportunity from five foot at the par three sixteenth was followed up by a bogey at 17.

But McIlroy remains in the hunt.

Jack Nicklaus gives his thoughts on Rory McIlroy's historic US Masters strugglesThe six time champion says that 'concentration lapses' are to blame for McIlroy's struggles.

DeChambeau regrets his infamous 'Par 67' comment

You can read the thoughts of clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau here. 

Brian Kehoe of the Irish Independent was among the reporters he spoke to after his spectacular opening round of 65.

Interestingly, the flamboyant American addressed his infamous comment from 2020, when he said that, for him, Augusta was a 'par 67.'

McIlroy bogeys 17The tee-shot did the damage. Rory misses a twenty footer to drop back to -1.

Lowry makes another par saveThe Offaly man has holed a number of tricky par putts over the last few holes and he continued that trend on ten.

He pulled his approach left of the green but after chipping to seven foot, he holed the putt to remain in the hunt.

He's +1 through ten.

McIlroy battling to save par on 17Having been hampered by a tree for his second shot, McIlroy over-shot the green with his second and he now faces a difficult chip.

McIlroy misses from five foot!A mis-step from McIlroy. 

He pulled it to the left, missing out on the opportunity to go to -3. 

Scottie Scheffler made no mistake from a shorter distance, knocking in his birdie to go to -6, just one shot off the lead.

McIlroy with a birdie opportunity!Having watched Scottie Scheffler stitch it to two foot on the par three sixteenth, Rory McIlroy responded with a brilliant tee shot of his own.

He's left himself with a good look for birdie, with a five footer coming up.

Shane Lowry, meanwhile, has completed his front nine with a score of +1.

A poor approach costs McIlroy on 15A poor long-iron shot is lucky to avoid the water for McIlroy on the final par five of his round.

He chipped to twenty foot and got down in two to make par.

Lowry saves parShane Lowry remains on +1 having taken a five on the par five eight. He is tied 42nd on the leaderboard.

Rory is making movesMcIlroy holes from 15 foot on the 14th to notch his fourth birdie of the day. 

He now moves up to the top ten of the leaderboard with four holes of his first round to play.

Pre-tournament Scottie Scheffler makes his moveAided by a lucky break that saw him narrowly miss the water on 13, the World number one capitalised with a birdie that leaves him three off the lead.

Having chipped in from the sand on 12, he has put a pair of unlikely birdies back-to-back.

McIlroy misses birdie chance at 13 as Lowry makes bogeyRory was forced to lay-up to the par five 13th having found the pine-straw with his tee-shot. 

He left himself with a 12 foot putt to make it two birdies in a row, but narrowly missed the chance.

Meanwhile, Shane Lowry has dropped his first shot of the day.

He split the fairway on the par four seventh but found the bunker with a poor approach. He missed a 17 footer for par, leading to his first bogey of the day.

McIlroy gets another birdie!It's his third of the day.Rory McIlroy has birdied the iconic par three twelfth hole, after holing out from 10 foot.

McIlroy had watched his playing partner Scottie Scheffler chip in for birdie from the bunker and he followed it up with a birdie of his own.

It's a solid start to Amen Corner for the county Down man.

McIlroy with birdie chance on 12The Par Three 12th is one of the most iconic holes in golf, fronted by the daunting presence of Rae's creek and flanked by three giant bunkers.

McIlroy has ignored them all, hitting his approach shot to ten foot.

McIlroy begins his journey through Amen CornerHe's found the green on the difficult par four 11th, and is now standing over a 30 footer for birdie from the fringe of the green. 

The next few holes are some of the most difficult of the course and will give us a fair idea of the form McIlroy is in.

Lowry drops a shotShane Lowry is back to level par after bogeying the notoriously difficult par four fifth.

Lowry found the bunker with his 222 yard approach shot and failed to get up and down, missing from five foot for par.

He's now back to level par after his first bogey of the day.

Tiger Woods birdies the firstWhat a start for Tiger, it's led to one of the roars of the day.

He is in trouble on the second, however, having sent his drive scuttling towards the pine straw down left hand side of the par five.

Lowry's solid start continuesHe has backed up a birdie at the first with three pars in succession. Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, has reached the half-way point on level par having gone out in 36 shots.

It's all about Bryson DeChambeau at the minute though, the man is on fire!