Paul McGinley spots one area of Rory McIlroy’s game which needs to improve despite him leading at Augusta

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Rory McIlroy has started the defence of his title at The Masters in superb fashion, ending round one at the top of the leaderboard.

McIlroy carded a 5-under 67 on the first day at Augusta National, joining early clubhouse leader Sam Burns.

The Northern Irishman emerged victorious at The Masters this time last year, defeating Justin Rose in a playoff to complete the career grand slam.

McIlroy is now targeting his fifth major championship title at the prestigious tournament, in what is his 18th start.

But it wasn’t an entirely satisfactory afternoon for the 36-year-old superstar, at least according to Paul McGinley.

Rory McIlroy missing his fairways concerns Paul McGinley

McGinley said on Sky Sports Golf: “As much as Rory has been really brilliant with some of the shots and golf he has played, he also has been poor quite a lot and his escaping from trouble has been key to his round.

“He is hitting less than 40% of his fairways, about 35% today, starting out on the first hole where he managed to up and down for par.

“On to the fifth where he put it underneath a tree and then chasing his shot up on to the green, where he was able to escape with par from there.

“It’s so important to be able to not drop shots around here. It’s not just great golf, it’s your ability to escape from trouble and avoid high numbers.

“Moving on to his back nine, it did not get much better on the par fives. Moving on to the 13th here, finding the trees.

“And then the 15th he hit it down the left last year, luckily it was soft then and the ball didn’t bound into the trees like it did this year.

“The golf course is firmer this year which is making it more difficult. But another birdie was to ensue. It has been great golf but great escapology from McIlroy today.”

It is a common theme that may just worry McIlroy, although last year alone proved that he is one of the greatest escape artists that golf has ever seen, which should give him some comfort should the issue continue this week.

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Rory McIlroy has clearly lifted a weight off his shoulders at Augusta

McIlroy noted beforehand that double digits under par will be good going at The Masters this year, having incidentally finished on 11-under alongside Rose last time out.

But Augusta National has proven difficult for several high-profile stars early in the competition, as it always does.

McIlroy’s familiar foe Bryson DeChambeau carded a four-over 76 in his opening round, while Patrick Cantlay posted a five-over 77.

And while the defending champion certainly wasn’t perfect, he had very few major issues in a relatively comfortable round, which comprised six birdies, 11 pars and one bogey.

The joint-leader even held a healthy lead alongside Burns once his day was finished, with Kurt Kitayama, Jason Day and Patrick Reed their closest competitors on 3-under.

McIlroy has seemingly lifted a weight off his shoulders thanks to last year’s unforgettable victory, but he will know better than most that another title is some distance away right now.

The job is far from done, and he’ll likely be fighting off a handful of players who will now have extra motivation to topple the man currently holding the green jacket.

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