Rory McIlroy’s disastrous end to his Masters opening round could have already cost him the green jacket.

The Northern Irishman fell from second to joint-27th as he carded a pair of double bogeys in his final four holes on Thursday.

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McIlroy snubbed the media following his opening round at The Masters[/caption]

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The Northern Irishman tumbled down the leaderboard after a disastrous final four holes[/caption]

McIlroy’s implosion was kickstarted on the 15th as he found the penalty zone with his pitch shot.

He followed it up with a second double bogey on 17 after not dropping a single shot on the opening 14 holes.

As a result, the world number two ended the day seven shots behind leader Justin Rose.

McIlroy then snubbed the media after his round, heading straight to the practice area instead of stopping for any interviews.

PGA Tour players are not obligated to speak to reporters following their round, as McIlroy pointed out earlier in the week.

Speaking during his pre-tournament press conference, the four-time Major winner explained: “Every other athlete, whether it be in the NBA, NFL, they’re obligated to speak to you guys after a game. We’re not.

“Whether that’s something that the PGA Tour looks to in terms of putting that into their rules and regulations, but as long as that’s not the case and we have that option to opt out whenever we want, expect guys to do that from time to time.”

Meanwhile, history suggests McIlroy could be set for more heartache at Augusta National this weekend.

The Masters remains the only Major he is yet to win as he chases the career Grand Slam.

His best finish at the tournament remains second three years ago, whilst McIlroy infamously capitulated on the final day back in 2011.

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History suggests McIlroy’s hopes of winning at Augusta are already over[/caption]

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Then aged just 21, he squandered a four-shot lead with an eight over par final round to plummet to tied 15th on the leaderboard.

Thursday’s woes could have already sealed the 35-year-old’s fate if previous results are anything to go by.

History suggests that the winner will come from a group of just ten players following the opening round.

The last 19 Masters champions and 72 of the 88 all-time winners have been in the top 11 after day one.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, is the only player in the last 20 years to win from outside the top ten after ending his opening round in a tie for 11th in 2019.

His achievement could be repeated this year with 16 players tied for 11th on one under par, including six former champions.

McIlroy is not amongst them, though, instead sitting a shot back on level par.

However, his playing partners Ludvig Aberg and Akshay Bhatia are both in the top ten.

The trio are scheduled to tee off for their second round at 2.58pm BST on Friday.

Aberg will begin in second alongside Corey Conners and Scottie Scheffler on four under par.

Bhatia is a further two shots back as one of four players tied for seventh after their first 18 holes.