Rory McIlroy is defending his Masters title, and he's already at the top of the leaderboard. But the secret to his strong start might be some blunt advice from a legend. Six-time champion Jack Nicklaus had a simple message for McIlroy before his first round.

“No f****** double bogeys,” Jack Nicklaus told McIlroy. It’s fair to say McIlroy followed Nicklaus’ advice as he finished round 1 with eleven pars, six birdies, and only one bogey. The dry conditions at Augusta were challenging, with many golfers suffering.

“Apparently, he thought I made too many last year,’ McIlroy revealed the reason behind Nicklaus' advice. However, the Irishman did end up making that mistake.

The defending champion hit a double bogey in the third round, and coupled with a few more mistakes, lost his six-stroke lead. Cameron Young caught up and is now tied for the lead.

If McIlroy ends up winning back-to-back Masters titles, he would join an elite group of golfers, comprising Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods, who have defended their titles.

McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam by winning his first Masters title in 2025. Finishing with a score of 11-under 277, McIlroy defeated Justin Rose in a playoff. He had a total of four double bogeys throughout the major and became the first Masters Champion to do so.  

This is not the first time Nicklaus has advised Rory McIlroy

“He has been the best at giving advice on how to play golf. Not how to swing, but how to play the game. He’s talked to me about his strategy and how to play the golf course and how to play the game and what he thought,” McIlroy said at a press conference five years ago.

Last year, Nicklaus had another short and sharp piece of advice for McIlroy. “Don’t do dumb things.” Nicklaus made this clear to McIlroy when they met each other a few days before the major.

However, Nicklaus had a comprehensive and cautious piece of advice for the current Masters Champion back in 2019.

"I think to win the Masters, that's enough to worry about. Rory is playing probably better than anybody is playing right now, at least from what I have seen. He's doing very well, and I hope he's got himself focused on basically the Masters Tournament," Nicklaus said.

McIlroy was just short of the Green Jacket for a Career Grand Slam until last year, and that had created extra pressure for him. The pressure took its toll, and he found himself in a decade-long drought of no Majors.

For years, Nicklaus has served as a mentor to McIlroy and will likely be watching closely this weekend.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi