"It felt like a scramble" Rory McIlroy left deflated after slow Masters start

Rory McIlroy admitted "it felt like a scramble all day" as he got off to a sluggish start in his bid to complete the career grand slam at The Masters. 

McIlroy, who went out in the penultimate group of the day, appeared out of sorts in the first round as he slumped to a lacklustre level-par 72.

That leaves him seven shots off the pace. 

The biggest problem for McIlroy is that the leaderboard is stacked with star quality.

Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka are all sitting pretty atop the leaderboard thanks to rounds of 7-under 65. 

Then you've got the likes of Cameron Young and Jason Day hot on their heels at 5-under par, with World No.1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler a further shot adrift. 

There are 10 major champions in the top 16 as it stands after day one. 

Sam Bennett is also there after he became the first amateur since 2005 to finish day one inside the top 10 on the leaderboard at The Masters. 

Bennett matched Scheffler's score of 68. 

That imperious driving display we saw at the WGC Match Play two weeks ago had left McIlroy on day one of The Masters. 

Errant drives would be a common theme for the day for McIlroy with multiple tee shots crashing into the Georgia pines. 

McIlroy just could not build any momentum. 

A birdie at the 2nd was followed by a bogey at the third. Then he made a deflating double at the 7th, two holes before he plugged in his ear buds to talk to Trevor Immelman and Jim Nantz as he strode the 9th fairway. 

By that time he had pulled himself back to 1-over and he would pull himself back to level with a birdie at the 10th. But he would immediately hand it back at the 11th. 

McIlroy briefly entered the red after making birdies at 15 and 16 but just as the story had been all day, he would make a sloppy bogey at 17 after once again missing the fairway in the trees. 

It all added up to a level-par 72, giving McIlroy plenty of food for thought heading into Friday's second round where he goes off at 10.12am local time (3.12pm UK time). 

McIlroy finds himself in a tie for 37th. 

After the round, McIlroy said: 

The Ulsterman did at least fare two shots better than Woods who shot a 74 and then complained of 'constant pain'.

McIlroy needs to win The Masters in order to become just the sixth player to complete the career grand slam.

He's looking to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. 

Keep up to date with all the latest scores and updates from The Masters with our LIVE Masters Blog