McIlroy, Quiros tied after 1st round of Masters at 7-under-par; Michelson, Woods near top of leaderboard

By Ray Bennett
Thursday April 7, 2011

On a crystal clear 80+ degree day, professional golf's most prestigious tournament got underway in Augusta, Georgia. On the first day, two Europeans got off to a tremendous start.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Spain's Alvaros Quiros are tied at 7-under-par after the first round at The Masters at Augusta National Country Club. Both shot a 65 on the Par 72 course on Thursday.

21-year-old McIlroy was the first to shine on golf's biggest stage. Rory started off the day with three consecutive birdies on holes two,three and four. McIlroy added three more birdies on nine, fourteen and fifteen to cap off his first round, never getting a bogey or worse. McIlroy's best career finish at The Masters was a tie for tenth in 2009. He missed the cut the following year. He also became the youngest to ever hold or tie for the lead at The Masters.

Quiros also got off to a good start, shooting a 33 on the front-nine with birdies on two, seven and eight. After two more birdies on ten and thirteen, Quiros bogied on the fourteenth hole. However, he quickly recovered with a birdie on the Par five, fifteenth hole. He finished the day with two more birdies on the final two holes of the back-nine. The 28-year-old Quiros, a European Tour golfer, has never made the cut in his two previous appearances at Augusta.

Both McIlroy and Quiros lead South Koreans Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi by two strokes at -5. Yang, the 2009 PGA Championship winner, was once tied with McIlroy for the lead after a birdie on the sixteenth hole. However, he bogied seventeen and eighteen to end day one with a 67. Choi rallied late on the back-nine, getting birdies on five of the last seven holes after a bogey on eleven.

Defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson finished his first round in a ten-way tie for fourteenth place, shooting -2. Michelson had a fairly decent day, making par on thirteen of eighteen holes. He bogied eighteen after reaching three-under through seventeen. The three time Masters champion is coming off a three stroke tournament win in last week's Shell Houston Open.

Four time winner of the fabled Green Jacket Tiger Woods is tied for twenty-fourth after shooting a 71 on the day at -1. Woods shot a 35 on the front-nine when he entered the tenth hole. However, he got into trouble with bogies on ten and eleven. Tiger quickly recovered with birdies on thirteen and fourteen, finishing the back-nine on par with 36.

Woods is tied along with 2009 Masters winner Angel Cabrera, 19-year-old Japanese golf phenom Ryo Ishikawa, European Tour golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez, veteran Fred Couples, Texas' Ryan Palmer and 2009 British Open winner Stewart Cink.

Other notables from day one include 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman tied for seventh at three-under par along with Sergio Garcia and Geoff Ogilvy among others. Englishman Lee Westwood shot even par along with seventeen others in thirty-first place, which also includes Steve Stricker and amateur Peter Uihlein. 25-year-old Californian Anthony Kim is tied for forty-ninth at one-over par. Two time Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal, ten year pro Bubba Watson and Englishman Justin Rose also shot +1. Other former Masters winners that finished above par include Vijay Singh (+4), Mike Wier (+4), Mark O' Meara (+5) and Tom Watson (+7).

The Second round on Friday will determine who will make the cut for the final two rounds over the weekend. The projected cut entering Friday is currently at +3. The first person is scheduled to tee off is at 7:45 A.M eastern time. Weather for Friday calls for a stray chance of a thunderstorm with a high in the lower 80s.