Rory McIlroy embraced the possibility of challenging conditions as he looked to play himself back into contention in the 87th Masters.<\/p>\n
McIlroy, who needs to claim a coveted green jacket at Augusta National to complete a career grand slam, could only card an opening 72 on Thursday to lie seven shots off the lead shared by Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Brooks Koepka.<\/p>\n
With bad weather forecast, Friday\u2019s tee times have been brought forward by 30 minutes with McIlroy among the early starters hoping to get all 18 holes in without disruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you\u2019re chasing it\u2019s probably the harder the better,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cThe more difficult the course is, I think that\u2019s probably favourable conditions for chasing a little bit or trying to catch up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen on Friday. Hopefully we don\u2019t get affected by it too much and we can get out there and play 18 holes uninterrupted and I can shoot something in the mid-60s and get myself back in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge faced by McIlroy was compounded by the strength in depth on the leaderboard, with Cameron Young and Jason Day two off the lead and seven players a shot further back on four under.<\/p>\n
That group included defending champion Scottie Scheffler, former Open champion Shane Lowry and 2013 winner Adam Scott, as well as US Amateur champion Sam Bennett.<\/p>\n
Tiger Woods faced an uphill battle to avoid missing the cut for the first time as a professional after an opening 74.<\/p>\n
Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jon Rahm on his opening hole four-putt: \"I remembered Seve's quote, I think it was here at the Masters, when he four-putted. I just kept thinking to myself, 'Well, I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.' Move on to the next.\"<\/p>\n \u2014 Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) April 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n