The 88th Masters Tournament was one of the toughest challenges for fans in years. Due to wind gusts of up to 40 mph on Friday, all but eight of the 89 competitors finished at par or worse.
One of those unlucky souls was Rory McIlroy, who carded a 5-over 77 on Friday.
After the round, the Northern Irishman detailed how difficult it was.
“Tough day, really tough day. It’s hard to score and just trying to make as many pars as possible,” McIlroy said.
That seems like an understatement.
The opening game at Augusta National proved difficult, as evidenced by his 73.43 point average. But he had an incredibly tricky second round on Friday.
The average score of the players was 75.08. biggest discrepancy during the first two rounds at Augusta since 1976, according to The Athletic’s Justin Ray.
Field scoring average #Masters It jumped from 73.43 in the first round to 75.08 in the second round.
This is the largest increase between the first two rounds of a single Masters since 1976 (+1.85).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 13, 2024
The conditions were so difficult that former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel called them “borderline unplayable.”
It was easy to see why he felt that way.
Many players said Friday’s round was one of the most difficult rounds they had ever played professionally.
McIlroy acknowledged how tough it was.
“At one moment you might have a 150-yard shot, and then if the wind does something different, your shot could be 180 yards. That could be a 30-yard difference.”
Generally speaking, most irons have a 10-yard difference, but a 30-yard difference can make a big difference.
Still, the four-time major champion remained optimistic.
“I’m hoping the conditions will be a little bit better tomorrow. Yeah, I still think I’ve got a half chance to go out there tomorrow and hit some low shots and get back to the red numbers and go into Sunday.”
McIlroy is 10 strokes behind the leading trio of Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa.
He is scheduled to tee off at 10:55 a.m. ET Saturday in pursuit of a career Grand Slam.
Kendall Capps is the senior editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social media platforms.
