“The biggest choker in pro sports” – Golf fans take brutal SWIPE at Rory McIlroy as two late double bogeys derails him in opening round of 2025 Masters

Rory McIlroy shot a score of even par in the first round after two late double bogeys on the 15th and the 17th holes.

“The biggest choker in pro sports” – Golf fans take brutal SWIPE at Rory McIlroy as two late double bogeys derails him in opening round of 2025 Masters

Rory McIlroy (Image via Golf Digest)

After another incredible start, Rory McIlroy once again struggled on the golf greens of the Augusta National Golf Course. The North Irishman made two late double bogeys, which derailed him in the opening round of the 2025 Masters Tournament.

McIlroy entered the tournament as one of the favorites to win it all. It looked good for him as he was 4 under par after the first 14 holes and was T2 for the lead. However, he collapsed after this hole.

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He tried to chip his ball on his 3rd shot at the par-5 15th hole. Unfortunately for him, the ball kept on rolling and found the water. He would finish with a score of 7 on this hole and fell behind.

After making a par on the 16th hole, he missed a par putt from 28ft at the 17th hole. His bogey putt would break away from the hole, leaving him to tap home his ball for a double bogey on this hole. He thus went from 4-under par to even par with these two costly errors and finished the first round at T27.

Following the round, Golf insider Kyle Porter shared an interesting stat that does not make for good reading for McIlroy. 18 of the last 20 Masters Champions have been inside the top 10 rankings after the first round, with the only exception being Tiger Woods in 2005 and 2019.

A few days ago, Golf analyst Brandel Chamblee came under the heat from the fans for claiming that the Augusta National was the nemesis of McIlroy. The golfer will need to overcome his demons of this course if he is to remain in contention this weekend.

Social media reacts to Rory McIlroy’s collapse in the opening round of the Masters Tournament

Given the form he is in at the moment, many expect Rory McIlroy to end his major championship drought and finally land the green jacket. Perhaps, those heavy expectations took a massive toll on him as he struggled in the final stretch on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

The 2 double bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes saw his rankings take a massive hit. Fans on X would make fun of him and took some brutal swipes for his unfortunate collapse. One user wrote, “The biggest choker in pro sports,” while reacting to this performance of McIlroy.

Check out that and some other reactions from X below:

The Masters Tournament is the one McIlroy is aiming to win more than anything. Having already won the other three major championships, he needs to win the Masters to complete the career grand slam. He would become just the 6th golfer to achieve this feat if he does manage to win here.

Rory McIlroy skips post media round following late collapse

After the massive collapse in the opening round, Rory McIlroy decided not to attend the post-round interview. He would skip this and headed straight out of the course after firing an even par score of 72 on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

This comes just a few days after he defended Collin Morikawa regarding his decision to skip the post-round interview at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In the final round, Morikawa saw the title slip away from his hands as a late bogey cost him the event. He would then skip talking to the media.

While this led to massive outrage among fans and experts, Morikawa kept on defending his decision to walk away without talking about his performance. McIlroy also did this on Thursday and refused to address the media.

Speaking of the Masters Tournament, English golfer Justin Rose finished as the solo leader after the first round with a score of 7-under 65. Meanwhile, defending champion Scottie Scheffler is T2 for the event alongside Corey Conners and Ludvig Aberg with scores of 4-under 68.