Analyst says pro’s slow play led to Rory McIlroy’s Masters collapse

The opening round of the 2025 Masters offered up another edition of Rory McIlroy’s losing battle with Augusta National. In the thick of contention, McIlroy collapsed late with a chip in the water and two double bogeys to plummet down the leaderboard. After the round, TV analyst Paul McGinley pinpointed another player’s slow play as the catalyst for Rory’s collapse.

McIlroy plummets down Masters leaderboard

If you’re a Rory McIlroy fan and you missed the moment yesterday, you might want to stop reading here.

After a great drive on the par-5 15th hole on Thursday, McIlroy sat at four under near the top of the leaderboard. There’s little doubt he envisioned making another red number to continue his ascent toward the lead.

But Rory’s second shot went over the green. Then, disaster struck. McIlroy’s next chip had too much juice, and it rolled all the way across the slick putting surface and into the water that guards the front of the green. Rory was then forced to head back to the other side of the hazard to hit his fifth shot. The end result? A devastating double-bogey 7.

Another double bogey followed shortly thereafter at the par-4 17th, and McIlroy eventually signed for an even-par 72.

However, the way McGinley sees it, there was an obvious culprit for McIlroy’s 15th hole collapse: a loss of concentration caused by slow play.

McGinley’s take on McIlroy’s blunder

A former European Ryder Cup captain and four-time European Tour winner, McGinley now plays the role of golf TV analyst for Sky Sports. And on Thursday evening, he focused his Masters segment on McIlroy’s mess.

In the video, McGinley argued that the seeds to Rory’s issues on Thursday were planted when playing partner Akshay Bhatia “took ages to play his shot” after hitting his own approach into the water on 15. He claimed that significant distraction caused McIlroy to lose focus.

“I think he got distracted. It took him a long time to play that pitch shot. His playing partner Akshay Bhatia put his second in the water. He took ages to play his shot – he took about 10 practice swings,” McGinley said on Sky Sports, as transcribed by golfwrx.com. “So A it took a long time. Then B his ball landed in Rory’s line so he had to wait for him to walk around the lake to mark his ball. Then he had to wait for the players to walk off the 16th tee. So he ended up waiting five minutes to play his shot.”

But McGinley was also quick to clarify that he did not think Bhatia or any other player was ultimately responsible for Rory’s double bogey.

“[McIlroy] is such a quick player – he wants to get on with it. He got distracted. I don’t blame Bhatia or the players walking off 16.” McGinley said.

Instead, McGinley put the blame squarely on McIlroy’s shoulders, arguing that “great champions” find a way to maintain concentration no matter what happens on the course.

“For a player who likes to play quickly, it was a drop in concentration. And that is what great champions don’t do. And I am sure that the 17th was a legacy of it.”

Following his disappointing 72 on Thursday, McIlroy will start Friday’s second round of the Masters seven shots behind leader Justin Rose.

The rest of Bhatia’s round went quite differently than Rory’s. Bhatia managed to save bogey on 15, then he reeled off three birdies in a row to close out an opening-round 70.