And in his try to right after his wayward drive, the Northern Irishman hit his second shot to the correct of the inexperienced and into the place the spectators have been standing.
Unfortunately for McIlroy, his ball hit the calf of his father — who was going through in the other way — and rolled away from the inexperienced.
Startled, Gerry regarded again on the ball earlier than limping away.
However, Rory had a greater thought.
“He’s seen me sign plenty of stuff over the years, so I think that’s the least of his worries,” he advised the media afterward. “I think he just needs to go and put some ice on — maybe I’ll autograph a bag of frozen peas for him.”
McIlroy ended up bogeying the opening, his third bogey in a row.
The 31-year-old, who’s trying to win the Masters to finish his profession grand slam, had his issues all through the opening round.
The previous phrase says: “You can’t win a golf tournament on the first day, but you can lose it.” And McIlroy’s possibilities of profitable would possibly already be over. He completed the day 4 over with six bogeys in complete.
Although he has lately taken on a brand new coach, he struggled for consistency off the tee, with the ball hooking and shanking throughout the course.
Like many different opening rounds of majors, McIlroy did not put up a difficult rating, with his placing early on not bailing him out in any respect.
He discovered the water a number of instances and it seems to be like it will likely be a tall order for the world No. 11 to return again and declare the well-known and elusive inexperienced jacket.