Scheffler off to quick start at a Masters where McIlroy is the sentimental favourite

Doug Ferguson · The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 2:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The Masters began Thursday with its largest tract successful 10 years and a feeling that lone 2 players were astatine the centre of attraction astatine Augusta National, and 1 of them wasted nary clip successful going consecutive to the apical of the leaderboard.

Scottie Scheffler, a earthy prime arsenic the No. 1 subordinate successful the satellite for the past 2 years, played his archetypal 9 successful 3 nether to lucifer the tourney grounds for a defending champion. The item was a 60-footer for birdie astatine the par-3 fourth.

Scheffler is trying to go the youngest subordinate since Jack Nicklaus with 3 greenish jackets.

The different favourite is Rory McIlroy, the sentimental prime arsenic 1 of the champion of his generation, with lone a Masters rubric keeping him from the vocation Grand Slam. He was among those with an day tee clip connected a warm, sunny time successful Georgia.

It began arsenic the prima was coming up and Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player deed honorary tee shots to get the 89th variation of the Masters underway. The trio were asked who they wanted to triumph and who they thought would triumph — 2 rather antithetic questions — and McIlroy was a unanimous prime among 3 players who person combined for 11 greenish jackets.

"I deliberation Rory McIlroy volition triumph the Masters this year, and I anticipation helium does," Players said, "because it would springiness play a large boost to person different victor of the Grand Slam."

Watson concurred, saying it was his "gut feeling."

Nicklaus revealed that McIlroy came to spot him successful Florida past week. There has been a agelong enactment of players who person tried to pat into the cognition of the six-time Masters champion, but it turned retired that McIlroy didn't truly request the help.

"We went done it changeable for shot," Nicklaus said. "And helium got done with the round, and I didn't unfastened my mouth. And I said: `Well, I wouldn't alteration a thing. That's precisely the mode I would effort to play the play course.'

McIlroy has leaned connected that subject this year, purposely playing much blimpish unless shots intelligibly allowed for assertive play. That was his strategy erstwhile helium won astatine Pebble Beach successful February. A period later, helium added The Players Championship.

Scheffler and others were mounting rather a people for the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland.

The two-time champion was capable to instrumentality vantage of the par-5s, getting up and down for birdie astatine the 2nd and eighth, to spell with that agelong birdie putt Scheffler made astatine the fourth. Tyrell Hatton besides made the crook astatine 3 under, portion Justin Rose birdied his archetypal 3 holes and joined them atop the aboriginal leaderboard.

Aaron Rai concisely got to 4 nether earlier 3 consecutive bogeys connected the backmost nine, portion 65-year-old Fred Couples was turning backmost time. The 1992 champion birdied the opening spread and spent astir of the time successful the red.