Rory McIlroy gave his new driver and putter the thumbs up for the Masters and backed the proposed ball rollback after making a winning start in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

On a day when Shen Lowry lost 2&1 to Taylor Montgomery and Seamus Power, two up with five to play, saw Adam Scott knock in putts at the 14th (9ft), 16th (5ft) and 18th (26ft) to snatch a one-up win, the number three seed McIlroy made six birdies in a 3&1 win over Scott Stallings with a shorter shaft in his driver and a new putter in his bag.

Scores

“It was a good first outing for both those clubs, and they performed pretty well,” said McIlroy, who felt he’d lost accuracy with his new driver and went for a 44-inch shaft instead. “It was good to put it in play today and have to perform pretty well. Drove it well, especially on the back nine.” 

As for swapping his mallet putter for a Scotty Cameron replica, he did not deny he had 19 putts with it during a practice round with Tom Brady at Augusta National last week.

“Yeah, look, I had two good days,” he said to media chuckles. “We played 54 holes in two days and it was good. I was really happy with where my game was. It was sort of good to see that after struggling The Players.”

As for the ball, McIlroy is backing plans by the R&A and USGA to reduce the distance the ball travels by 15-20 yards by January 2026.

“I’m glad in this new proposal that they haven’t touched the recreational golfer,” he told No Laying Up. “But for elite level play, I really like it. I really do. I know that’s a really unpopular opinion amongst my peers, but I think it’s going to help identify who the best players are a bit easier. Especially in this era of parity that we’ve been living in these past couple of decades.

“You guys [at No Laying Up] use the term ‘golf has been dumbed down a little bit at the elite level,’ and I completely agree. I think you’re gonna see people with more well-rounded games succeed easier than what the game has become, which is a bit bomb and gouge over these last few years.

“I think this is only gonna help the better player. You know, it might help the longer player too, in some ways. But I think it's going to help the overall professional game. I think making guys hit some long irons again, and some mid irons, and being able to hit every club in your bag in a round of golf. … I can't remember the last time when I've had to do that. I don't know if this change in the ball will make us do that, but it certainly is a step closer to that.”

He added: “Honestly, for me, the major championships are the biggest deal, so if the PGA Tour doesn't implement it, I might still play the Model Local Rule ball, because I know that that'll give me the best chance and the best preparation leading into the major championships I know that I'm gonna be defined by the amount of major championships that I hopefully will win from now until the end of my career.”

The Masters is next up and while he said he now faces a five-iron “with the ball way above my feet” at the lengthened, par-five 13th instead of an eight-iron from a flat lie, he doesn’t believe a ball rollback would be a big upheaval for him at Augusta.

“I've gained 15 yards in the last six or seven years, and they're saying it's basically a 15- to 20-yard reduction in distance if you hit the ball the speeds that I hit it. It would just be like me playing golf again in 2015, and I seemed to do okay then.”

The first series of matches produced some surprises with Rickie Fowler coming back from two-down to beat number two seed Jon Rahm 2&1 as JJ Spaun beat US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick 5&3 and Ben Griffin beat Tyrrell Hatton (who has Lowry’s former caddie Brian Martin on his bag for the next few months) 3&1.

Current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opens with a 1-up victory over Davis Riley while Matt Kuchar made his history with a 3&1 win over Viktor Hovland. It was his 35th match victory at the Dell Technologies Match Play, which leaves second only to Tiger Woods (36) for wins in the event.

As for Power and Lowry, both were undone by sharper opponents at key moments.

“When you win two of the last three, you're squeaking out of a match,” Scott said of his 18th hole win over Power, who had a 12-footer for a halved match but missed. “Yeah, not much was going for either of us. A couple errors by both of us on the back nine. Some good stuff at the end of the match to win.

“Yeah, it's always good, whether you're getting into contention or have a tight match, to feel those feelings and certainly make a putt on the last or come out on top is good for the confidence.”

Lowry won the second with a birdie but Montgomery then birdied the third, fifth, sixth and seventh to find himself 2 up and the remaining 10 holes were halved.

“I really didn't notice that we tied every hole from 8 on,” Montgomery said. “I don't know, I felt like he had an advantage on some holes and he didn't capitalize. And then I had some advantages and I didn't capitalise. So it was more like a pillow fight the whole match. (Laughter.)”

McIlroy is the clear leader of group three and now faces Denny McCarthy, who was four down with five to play against Keegan Bradley but finished par, birdie, eagle, par, birdie to halve his match.

Lowry faces Mackenzie Hughes and now desperately needs a win to keep his hopes alive after Jordan Spieth holed out from 86’ 8” on the par-4 15th hole to secure the 4&3 victory over Mackenzie Hughes

On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire defends the LPGA Drive On Championship at a new venue in Arizona, looking to build momentum for the first women’s Major of the season.

“That's where the focus is, and just trying to get a few solid of weeks of momentum,” said Maguire, who will play next week’s LA Open and then have two weeks off to get ready for The Chevron Championship in Texas from April 12-15.

Tom McKibbin plays the DP World Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Open in Johannesburg while Dermot McElroy and Niall Kearney join Ruaidhri McGee, Conor Purcell and amateur Robert Moran in the Challenge Tour’s Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge in Bangalore in India.