AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The flair of Rory McIlroy. The sheer power of Alvaro Quiros. These are but two of the fresh faces in golf who offered more evidence Thursday at the Masters that a new generation is on the way.
And that's only going to make it tougher on Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
The 21-year-old McIlroy, who opened with a 63 at St. Andrews last summer in the British Open, again delivered exquisite shots on one of golf's biggest stages for a 7-under 65. It was such a clean round that he didn't make a bogey and was left wondering how much lower he could have gone if not for missing five birdie chances inside 10 feet.
"It wasn't maybe as exclusive or spectacular as the 63 at St. Andrews," he said. "But it was very solid from start to finish."
Then came Quiros, a 28-year-old Spaniard whom many consider the longest hitter in the game. Blasting away on a course where he had never shot better than 75, he spun an approach back to 3 feet on the 18th hole to catch McIlroy atop the leaderboard.
They had a two-shot lead over a pair of South Koreans, former PGA champion Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi.
Mickelson and Woods, with six green jackets between them in the last decade, blended in more than they stood out.
Woods played in the morning in only a moderate breeze, ideal conditions for scoring. But he lost his way starting the back nine with consecutive bogeys, made only one birdie on the par 5s and had to settle for a 71.
Mickelson was far more erratic off the tee, hitting tee shots into the Georgia pines and spraying one so far into the azaleas left of the 13th fairway that he looked like he was on an Easter egg hunt as he searched for his ball. He hit only four fairways, last in the field of 99 players. He shot a 70.
The top Americans on the leaderboard were Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes at 68. Another shot back was a group that included former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, Brandt Snedeker and Sergio Garcia, who is slowly showing signs of a revival.
Comments