Augusta, GA – Golden Bear knows one or two things about Augusta National. After all, Jack Nicklaus won the Masters six times and made a 52 start in his illustrious career.
So, when he chose Rory McIlroy to win Thursday morning, that wasn't surprising. Gary Player and Tom Watson chose him to complete his career grand slam.
However, Nicklaus, who recently admitted to having a conversation with McIlroy about how to play the golf course, provided a warning sign for the current world No. 2.
“In my opinion, this discipline is something that Rory lacks. He has every shot. He has every game. He certainly has talent with anyone in the game,” Nicklaus warned.
“But when you look, if you go back in the last few years and look at his history, he gets to the places where eight or seven people pop out.
“I'm a big Rory fan and I love Rory so that's what I think. But obviously, I think Scotty Schaeffler will come back. He's the defending champion. No one plays the game as Scotty.
He was tied with Scheffler with four under par when McIlroy torched another drive on the 15th fairway. Another birdie of 15 appears plausible, predicting that “Rory-Scottie” predicted by ESPN's Curtis Strange was trying to meet the bills at least throughout Round 1.
McIlroy then sailed the 15th Green by airmail. This is one of the new surfaces on the course. He knitted four irons from 238 yards, but instead of trying to play a softly landing Hyferd, he hit a draw for the piercings. His approach skipped the 15th green, landing about 10 yards from the surface, and landing in a similar location to where Patrick Cantray had scraped it at the moment before.
McIlroy suffered from the same fate.
He slams a chip shot, which rolls into the water, leaving McIlroy to destroy “Seven,” who would have been five years old at worst.
After two holes, McIlroy once again lit the approach with air.
And once again, he hammered his chip shot over 20 feet of flag stick, then 3 putts for a double bogey six.
In the blink of an eye, McIlroy went 5 under as he could improve his score and was evenly made for the championship. He signed 72.
Nicklaus' warning has come true.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
