Paul McGinley suggests slow play cost Rory McIlroy in Masters collapse

We’ll never quite know the exact answer to the question: what caused Rory McIlroy’s late collapse on day one of the 2025 Masters?

But former Ryder Cup captain-turned-analyst Paul McGinley has an idea.

McIlroy, who was four-under-par approaching the green of the 15th hole at Augusta National, soon found himself seven shots adrift of the early pace following two double bogeys.

The first came at the long par-5, where the Northern Irishman chipped into the water with his third shot from behind the green.

That is where McGinley claims playing partner Akshay Bhatia caused him to lose focus.

“A couple of things were happening there, as he was getting ready to play what was a difficult chip, but not an impossible shot on 15,” he told Sky Sports.

“The first was his playing partner Bhatia, who hit his second shot in the water. He took forever to take the drop and, after taking ten practice shots, went to hit his pitch shot.

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“It wasn’t a bad shot from where he was, but it went back onto Rory’s line.

“Now, from there, Rory has to wait for him, even though he’s ready to go. He’s a quick player, one of the quickest players on the Tour. Look where Bhatia has to walk all the way around the water and all the way up onto the green to mark his ball.

“And then as Rory is getting ready to play again, now he’s got to wait on the 16th tee box, which is right behind him. So, he’s slow down again.

“Then, it’s a little drop in concentration, he hasn’t got into his routine like he did before, and I think he got distracted there and that’s why the execution wasn’t quite what we’d seen until there.

“It was a mishit and I think it was down to concentration more than anything else, and it could well be that those two incidents happened in quick succession and slowed him down to at almost three minutes from when it was his shot until he actually played.”

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Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley addressed slow play in his annual press conference on Wednesday and was adamant the game must find a solution.

Pace of play for yesterday’s first round was roughly five-and-a-half hours.

Meanwhile, McIlroy will head back out on day two, alongside Bhatia and Ludvig Aberg, at 2.58pm (BST).

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.