The Masters first round is all set as Tiger Woods started off his quest for his next major with a two under 70 to start, putting him four strokes behind of the leader as the tournament heads into day two on Friday from Augusta National and there are a number of players looking good, including Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.
Sergio Garcia got off to a good start, while Fowler finished four back of Marc Leishman, who took a six stroke lead into the clubhouse while play was still going on. David Lynn is four back as well, while Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk are three back on the PGA leaderboard. Lee Westwood and Justin Rose are two back with Woods, who has shot a two under 70 four times in the first round in the past, winning the Masters after that on three occasions.
Tiger Woods is back as the number one golfer in the world after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament two weeks ago, taking the mantle from Rory McIlory and despite losing the overall ranking, the Northern Irish star feels that the two are not rivals on the golf course.
According to ESPN.com, McIlroy spoke about Woods ahead of the Masters, which begins on Thursday with first round coverage at Augusta National, saying that he does not see himself as a rival of Woods' or a rival of anyone on the course. So far this season McIlroy has had a rough go of it, but he played much better at the Texas Open over the weekend, coming in second to give himself some momentum heading into the first major of the PGA tour season.
McIlroy is playing in his fifth Masters in his career while Woods is playing in his 19th at Augusta National. McIlroy has never won the Masters and his best finish there came two years ago when he came in 15th place. Back then, Tiger was still in the midst of his comeback, but that time appears to be over, as he won three tournaments ahead of the Masters for the first time in years and appears to be the favorite once again.
McIlroy said that he is not a rival to Woods mostly because rivals have similar success in their careers and he pointed out that the 77 wins on Tour by Woods puts him in a field alone when it comes to the PGA Tour. Woods has won six times in his past 20 official starts and also took home the Farmers Insurance Open and the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
"I don't see myself a rival to Tiger or to anyone,'' McIlroy said Tuesday morning prior to a practice round at Augusta National. "His record, when you speak of rivals ... you tend to put rivals who have had similar success. He's got 77 PGA Tour (wins); I've got six. He's got 14 majors; I've got two. If I saw myself a rival to Tiger, I wouldn't really be doing him much justice.''
Woods later spoke and said that he sees McIlroy as a challenger, especially since he has won two majors, but Woods is more focused on the Masters and winning his first major since 2008, which would be his 15th overall. Woods last won a major at the US Open, winning in a playoff, while McIlroy had a fantastic year last season, winning five times and winning the player of the year on the European and PGA Tours.
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