{"id":593903,"date":"2026-04-10T03:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/593903\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T03:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:15:10","slug":"a-disastrous-day-for-liv-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/593903\/","title":{"rendered":"A Disastrous Day for LIV Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA \u2014 Rory McIlroy must like the view from the top of the Masters leaderboard. McIlroy is exactly in the same spot as he was when he completed the Grand Slam in 2025, winning his first green jacket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McIlroy opened defense of his Masters title on Thursday, shooting a five-under 67 despite hitting only 5 of 14 fairways<\/a>. Sam Burns shares the lead with McIlroy after his round of 67 featured an eagle on the 2nd, as well as three birdies on the second nine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s opening round featured the good, the bad and the ugly. Here\u2019s a closer look at how a firm and fast Augusta National tested the best players in the world.<\/p>\n

GOOD: Sam Burns opens with a 67<\/p>\n

If you ask fans to name the Best Players Without a Major, Sam Burns might not be in their top three\u2014but there aren\u2019t a ton of major-less players still in their primes with more PGA Tour wins than his five.<\/p>\n

The 29-year old shot his best round at Augusta National, a 5-under 67, to share the early lead with McIlroy.<\/p>\n

As he often does, Burns played practice rounds this week with his good friend Scottie Scheffler. And as he often does, he got questions about the world No. 1 after his own good play. Doesn\u2019t that get old? A green jacket of his own would help. \u2014John Schwarb\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

BAD: Tommy Fleetwood\u2019s second nine<\/p>\n

After matching the best first nine score of his Masters career with a 4-under 32, Fleetwood\u2019s game took a turn for the worse on the second nine. Fleetwood recorded bogeys on Nos. 10, 12, 16 and 18 sandwiched around a birdie on the 14th. Fleetwood was tied for the lead at one point but finished at 1-under 71.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200bThere’s always been a debate about the best player without a major, and Fleetwood is at the top of that list. Fleetwood, who got his first PGA Tour win at the 2025 Tour Championship, has top-10 finishes in majors and is an elite ball-striker. However, it’s time to close the deal in a big tournament. \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

UGLY: Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s triple bogey on 11<\/p>\n

Last year, DeChambeau found himself in the final pairing with McIlroy. But he shot a 3-over 75, and faded with a 4-over finish over his final 16 holes, primarily due to fast greens and a double bogey on the 11th hole.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau fell victim again to the 11th hole in the opening round on Thursday. After hitting his tee shot down the middle on the par-4, 520-yard hole, DeChambeau put his approach into the right-hand bunker. After two failed bunker shots<\/a>, he finally got his ball out on his third attempt and then two-putted for his triple bogey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of us golf experts<\/a> thought DeChambeau might have learned his lesson from playing in the final round in 2025. You can\u2019t win the Masters in the opening round, but you can lose it with triple bogeys. DeChambeau finished his round with a 4-over 76. \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

GOOD: Kurt Kitayama\u2019s birdie barrage<\/p>\n

The 22nd-ranked player in the world posted an opening-round 69, and is very much in contention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitayama posted eight birdies, including four over a five-hole stretch (Nos. 6\u201310). Kitayama could have found himself in the lead if not for a costly double bogey on the 12th.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitayama has a pair of PGA Tour victories, winning the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational and the \u201925 3M Open. \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Patrick Reed looks over a putt on the opening hole of the Masters. Reed made a pair of eagles on Nos. 2 and 8 to ignite a 3-under 69 in the opening round. | Grace Smith-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

BAD: Patrick Reed\u2019s bogey on 15<\/p>\n

The 2018 Masters champion was tied for the lead after 14 holes at 4 under, and looked to be in prime position on the par-5 15th in the middle of the fairway.<\/p>\n

But then Augusta National put the brakes on Reed, whose second shot bounced off the back of the firm green and rolled into the water along the par-3 16th. Reed rebounded to salvage a bogey after a terrific chip<\/a> to within a few feet; he almost saved far. But the damage was done.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the round, Reed became the second player in Masters history to make two eagles over his first nine holes (Nos. 2 and 8); Henrik Stenson also did it in 2012. Reed finished his round with a 3-under 69.<\/p>\n

The last player in a Masters to make two eagles in one round was McIlroy in last year\u2019s third round. \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

UGLY: LIV Golf\u2019s Thursday at Augusta<\/p>\n

As we say at every major in this space, golf\u2019s biggest events will continue to be a referendum on LIV Golf\u2014and Thursday was a disaster. DeChambeau shot 76 after taking three swipes in the greenside bunker at 11, Jon Rahm turned in his worst Masters round ever with a 78 and not a single LIV\u2019er broke par. Yes, conditions were tough and will get tougher<\/a>, but 16 players managed to post a red number in Round 1, and none of them call LIV Golf home.<\/p>\n

And to add insult to all those bogeys, Patrick Reed continues to play great after leaving the Saudi-backed circuit. \u2014John Schwarb<\/p>\n

GOOD: Hitting driver \u2026 off the pine straw?<\/p>\n

Golfers know it takes a certain amount of guts (and skill) to hit a driver off the deck. So, what does it take to hit a driver off the pine straw at Augusta Nationa<\/a>l? Pick your own adjective, but this shot on No. 2 from Si Woo Kim was sweet. \u2014Jeff Ritter<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy struggled off the tee, hitting only 5 of 14 fairways in the opening round. | Erick W. Rasco\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

BAD: A not-so-good driving performance<\/p>\n

McIlroy is a Grand Slam champion. He\u2019s also defending his Masters title this week. And he’s been known to hit his driver all over the place at Augusta National. Remember the drive off a cabin during the final round of the 2011 Masters? While leading by one stroke, his tee shot on the par-4 10th hooked left, hitting a tree and ricocheting toward the private white guest cabins used by members.<\/p>\n

McIlroy had a few wild drives on Thursday, too, becoming just the second player in the tournament’s last 10 years to shoot 67 or better in one round despite hitting five or fewer fairways. Hideki Matsuyama 2021, Round 3, five fairways hit) is the other.<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s driving performance didn\u2019t seem to bother him, talking about his 5-under round to ESPN\u2019s Scott Van Pelt: \u201cI\u2019ll probably go up there [champions locker room], have a drink and put my green jacket on.\u201d \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

UGLY: Jon Rahm\u2019s double-bogey 7 at the 13th hole<\/p>\n

The 2023 Masters champion was going back enough, having shot 40 for the first nine holes. The back-nine par-5s at least offered a chance to make up some ground. But Rahm\u2019s drive found the penalty area to the left off the tee, and it didn\u2019t get much better from there. He missed the green with his third after a penalty stroke, pitched onto the green and then three-putted from 30 feet for a 7. \u2014Bob Harig<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Masters honorary starters Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus shake hands after Thursday’s ceremonial opening tee shots. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

GOOD: The ceremonial opening tee shots<\/p>\n

Another Masters tradition that never disappoints. Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson struck their tee shots at 7:25 this morning, playfully jabbing at each other but still swinging it quite well for men of their age. It\u2019s hard not to feel sentimental and contemplate the passage of time while seeing those champions together again. \u2014Jeff Ritter<\/p>\n

BAD: Cameron Young\u2019s three consecutive bogeys on Nos. 5-7<\/p>\n

It was a shaky 73 from the reigning Players champion, who entered this week on the short list of favorites. Young\u2019s power-and-touch combo should play well at Augusta, but he was 4 over through 11 holes and did well to finish at 1 over. He\u2019s not out of it, but this was not a great start. \u2014Jeff Ritter<\/p>\n

UGLY: Trio falls victim to 80s in 18\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carlos Ortiz, Naoyuki Kataoka and Aldrich Potgieter went out early and probably wished they had stayed in bed.<\/p>\n

Potgieter shot an 84 in a round that featured five bogeys, four double bogeys, one birdie and eight pars. Kataoka matched Potgieter\u2019s score with a round that had six doubles, four bogeys, two birdies and five pars. And Ortiz, who started off bogey, double, bogey, bogey and double to finish with an 80, played reasonably well after the poor start, with a pair of birdies and three bogeys over his final 11 holes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The worst official 18-hole score in Masters history? Amateur Charles Kunkle\u2019s 23-over par 95 in the 1956 final round. Unofficially, Billy Casper shot a 106 in 2005 (age 73) but withdrew without signing his scorecard. \u2014John Pluym<\/p>\n

More Masters coverage on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUGUSTA \u2014 Rory McIlroy must like the view from the top of the Masters leaderboard. McIlroy is exactly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-593903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}