Masters 2016 leaderboard and scores: Jordan Spieth leads but Rory McIlroy lurks

The nails-on-a-chalkboard cliche goes “you can’t win the Masters on the first day, but you can certainly lose it.” Jordan Spieth is trying to shatter that rule.

A year after posting an 8-under 64 to start a runaway win to the 2015 green jacket, Spieth went out on Thursday at Augusta National, in tougher windy conditions, and raced out to an early 6-under lead. There was a coalescing opinion coming in to this Masters that Jordan Spieth had been struggling with his game. While there were some shaky rounds and uneven holes, he had still posted eight top 20s in nine starts this year. That’s not “struggling” but things are all relative now for Spieth.

There was no unevenness or shaky shot on Thursday as he made his first loop around Augusta without a bogey. The round was marked by that Spiethian characteristic that delivered him his two majors last year -- clutch putting from those longer 15-25 foot distances. That’s how you mitigate the damage from poor shots while also stealing a couple birdies that move you up the leaderboard. Spieth did that repeatedly on Thursday, pouring them in on both the first and second nine to stay in the red and extend his lead.

On the other side of the draw in the late afternoon were Spieth’s “Big Three” compatriots -- Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. Day, the slight favorite and No. 1 player in the world, started his round like he’d match or pass Spieth. He got to 5-under and was bombing the ball off the tee, hitting the longest drive of the day on many holes. That’s a staple of Day’s game that we’ve come to expect, but the ball-striking was there early on too, as he dropped darts on top of flagsticks. This shot at the 9th set up a birdie that would complete an outward 31 and the game was on:

But as pure as that 5-under 31 was, Day’s back nine was just as ugly. He started leaking oil with a decision to lay up on the par-5 15th, which he three-put bogeyed to drop a shot. On the next hole, the famous par-3 16th, he dumped one in the drink, left his second ball high up on the ridge, and walked off with a triple. The bleeding did not stop on the 17th, where he dropped another shot with some wildness from tee-to-green. It was a mess and all of a sudden the No. 1 player in the world went from one shot back of Spieth to completely off the first page of the leaderboard. In the end, his second nine was 10 shots worse for an even-par round of 72. He’s not out of it but he obviously can’t have another stretch, or even hole like that 16th.

McIlroy played in the final tee time of the day, something he subtly indicated on Tuesday that he wasn’t thrilled about doing. But Rory was patient all day, not trying run out and pull even with Spieth. He stayed in the red, hit his marks, and then poured in an eagle at the (what is for him) easy par-5 13th to make his move onto the first page of the leaderboard.

McIlroy said the one thing he’s learned to do at Augusta is make up ground on the par-5s. In early struggles at Augusta, he’d flail away on those par-5s but the red numbers are something he has to post with his power off the tee. After the eagle on No. 13, he opted to not lay up like Day at the 15th, getting on the green in two and draining a lengthy birdie putt to get to 4-under. Rory would drop a shot apiece at the 16th at the 18th, but he’s got a good tee time tomorrow in what should be favorable conditions that present the perfect opportunity to post a low early number and get ahead of Spieth. Those late lost shots burned him up, but he’s fine at 2-under.

The leaderboard has a distinctly international flavor outside of Spieth. And it’s some of the big names we’re familiar with in Justin Rose, Spieth’s closest chaser last year, Sergio Garcia, and Ian Poulter. There are newcomers like Shane Lowry and Danny Willett too, but it’s not surprising, given their talent and form, to see them in the mix. It’s a solid leaderboard as we head to Friday, where some more rain is supposed to make scoring conditions favorable before heavy winds hit on Saturday. Here’s where everyone stands after 18 at Augusta: