Still Can Win The Masters - Rory McIlroy

Spieth and McIlroy, R3 - Getty Images

Rory McIlroy believes he still has a chance to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam after Jordan Spieth's late stumble threw the tournament wide open.

Spieth held a four-shot lead with two holes to play and was eight clear of playing partner McIlroy, who struggled to a 77 and failed to record a single birdie for the first time in 81 major championship rounds.

However, the defending champion then bogeyed the 17th and ran up a double bogey on the last to finish just a shot ahead of compatriot Smylie Kaufman, with McIlroy another four shots behind.

"I couldn't get anything going really," McIlroy said. "It felt more like a US Open than a Masters today. I am disappointed. I felt like I righted the ship a little on the back nine but couldn't take the few opportunities I gave myself.

"If I am to take heart from anything then it's the fact Jordan has just let a lot of people in after his finish. But I need to get off to a fast start tomorrow. The forecast is for better conditions and we know stranger things have happened, but I need to play a lot better than I played today.

"I think it's winnable from here. If Jordan hadn't had that finish then I would probably say no, but he finished that way and the guys on two and three over like myself feel like we have a chance now. I just have to make sure that I get off to a fast start and put some red numbers on the board and make a bit of noise to put a bit of pressure on the guys playing behind me.

"I need to be more aggressive. I played very tentatively today right from the get-go. I hit it in the bunker on two and that was the way of it. I didn't birdie any of the holes I had been doing for the first two days, I didn't take advantage of the par fives.

"I made a couple of big numbers and had no red on the card and that is never going to bode well. I was trying so hard on that last putt to just make one birdie today but it wasn't to be.

"I'm only five back and I can't believe I am standing here saying that because I was eight behind standing on the 17th tee. I need to regroup and stay positive and go out and attack tomorrow."

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McIlroy and Harrington in Northern Trust

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Rory McIlroy carded a round of 67 in his opening round of the US PGA Tour 2016 at the Northern Trust Open and remains four shots behind the clubhouse leader Camilo Villegas - after play was suspended due to bad light.

McIlroy had arrived on the west coast after working on his game at his Florida base during a week off and he enjoyed a good on the chilly Riviera Country Club in Pacfic Pallisades.

An opening tee shot at the 315-yard short par-four 10th left McIlroy with a tricky pitch from 30 yards, but he would turn it into the first birdie of the day by holing the putt from seven feet.

McIlroy admitted to working on his putting after his spell in the United Arab Emirates and he soon got the measure of the small and tricky Riviera surfaces, almost making an outrageous 73-foot eagle putt on the second before tapping in for a second birdie.

McIlroy was very close to making it three on the the spin at the 12th, made a good par save on the 13th and saw his ball horseshoe out from 25 feet for birdie on the 14th.

Riviera’s fairway bunkers usually exact a toll and McIlroy would drop his only shot of the round after finding the steep face of one on the right of the 15th, forcing him to come up short of the green in three as he carded a bogey five.

Two pars followed before a brilliant wedge to nine feet on the par-five 17th set up a third birdie of the round as he turned in two-under 34.

McIlroy made it a clean sweep of the par fives with a birdie on the first before a run of five pars. Another stunning approach, this time to inside three feet on the par-four seventh, brought a fifth birdie.

Unlucky to just miss out on another gain on the eighth, McIlroy holed a tricky short putt for par on the 18th to compete a fine opening round in the event.

Chez Reavie and Luke List both recorded bogey-free five-under 66s to share the lead with Bubba Watson, who carded seven birdies and two bogeys in his round. McIlroy had company on four under from American Ricky Barnes, Charles Howell III and amateur Charlie Danielson.

Pádraig Harrington was also among the early starters at Riviera, the three-time Major champion trading off two birdies against two bogeys in a level-par 71.

Charl Schwartzel showed no signs of any jetlag or effects of last week’s victory at the Tshwane Open in his native South Africa as he opened with a three-under 68. He was joined on that mark by the Americans Billy Horschel, Jason Kokrak and Harris English, Argentine veteran Angel Cabrera, South Africa’s Retief Goosen and American-based Scot Martin Laird .

England’s Justin Rose was a shot further back on two under, a mark also shared by McIlroy’s playing partners Matsuyama and Kuchar.

McIlroy was delighted to play well in his first competitive round at Riviera, which is consistently ranked by players as one of the top courses on the PGA Tour.

“Put myself out of position a couple of times but the way the conditions of the golf course were, it didn’t punish you as bad as if it would have been as firm as it was the last couple of days,” he said.

“I felt like my pace on the greens was good . . . and I lag-putted well. All of the things that you need to do around this golf course, I did pretty well today.”

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