Almost all the talk about Rory McIlroy in the build-up to this year’s Masters related to the pomp.
In comparison, discussion about whether his game is there to secure a rare back-to-back Masters win felt somewhat neglected.
When last year’s winner was finally able to focus on his golf on Thursday, McIlroy reminded everyone he is not in Augusta this week simply to serve up the Champions’ Dinner.
He is here to play. And he is here to win.
The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland shares the first-round lead with American Sam Burns after carding a five-under par 67, ensuring anybody who was sleeping on his chances has been stirred.
McIlroy was among only 16 players in the 91-man field to finish under par, with conditions expected to get even firmer and faster over the next three days.
England’s Justin Rose, who was agonisingly denied his first Green Jacket by McIlroy in a nerve-jangling play-off last year, is three shots behind the leaders and alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler on two under par.
“I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one,” said McIlroy, who is aiming to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only men to retain the Masters.
“It’s hard to say because there are still shots out there that you feel a little bit tight with, and you just have to stand up and commit to making a good swing and not worry about where it goes.
“But it’s easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that I can go to the champions’ locker room and put on my Green Jacket.”
The UCLA women’s gymnastics team enters the NCAA regionals on Friday in Corvallis, Ore., focused on three principles — calm, confidence and commitment to one another. The Bruins started leaning on the mantra to help them stay dialed in as they took home the Big Ten tournament title, Mika Webster-Longin said.
Now, they will use it as they to push to reach the NCAA championship.
“The Big Ten win really feels good and helps our confidence going [into NCAA regionals],” she said. “It felt great to put everything together because I feel like we really built off of one another and showed what we can do to not only the Big Ten competition, but to everyone.”
“It gives us just the right amount of confidence going into regionals and then seeing where it takes us,” Tiana Sumanasekera said.
UCLA gymnasts Nola Matthews, left, and Tiana Sumanasekera, right, cheer as Jordan Chiles lands a jump during her floor exercise routine at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
During the NCAA Corvallis Regional, San José State and Washington will face off for spots in the main pool. No. 4 seed UCLA then competes in one of two sessions on Friday at 7 p.m. against No. 13 seed Minnesota, Iowa and the winner of the Spartans versus Huskies early matchup.
If the Bruins place in the top two, they advance to the regional final on Sunday to face the top two teams in the other regional pool that includes No. 5 seed Alabama, No. 12 seed Utah, Denver and host Oregon State.
The top two teams in the regional final along with the top individual all-around performer and top event finishers not on a qualifying team advance to the NCAA championship.
Last year, UCLA finished in first place during its opening regional matchup and second during the finals, advancing to the championship meet.
The Bruins’ biggest takeaway from last season’s competition has been to be intentional, attack their gymnastics and be aggressive with their routines, UCLA coach Janelle McDonald said.
“The best teams that have the most success at these competitions are the ones that really leave no doubt out there,” she said.
At this point in the season, performing a familiar routine isn’t hard for UCLA. The Bruins’ main focus is on nailing details and to be present during every moment of their routines to score every possible point. With a two-day competition waiting for them in Corvallis, the Bruins also need to make sure they commit to recovery treatment so that they’re as sharp as possible for the second day of competition, McDonald said.
“That’s really been our mentality, be really efficient, very confident, very present and intentional about what we’re doing,” she said.
The stakes are higher, but the conference champions say they will treat this as business as usual. The Bruins want to lock in and highlight the areas that have helped them demonstrate competitive greatness throughout the season.
“Each and every weekend we’re building that mentality,” McDonald said. “We have so many experiences under our belt that we’ve learned from.”
Sumanasekera said hard work all season has helped prepare the team for the test it faces this weekend.
“We’re really excited, we have incredible depth on this team, so I think that really helped us in the long run,” she said.
UCLA teammates cheer as gymnast Jordan Chiles completes her floor routine during the Big Four competition at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 27.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Webster-Longin experienced the postseason last year as a freshman. This year, she had a late start due to an illness that kept her out for three meets.
Since returning on Feb. 27, she has competed in all-around events during the last three meets and has improved her scores each week.
That was the moment Webster-Longin remembered just how competitively great she is, McDonald said.
“I’ve seen the details become more consistent, and I’ve just seen her just be excited to go out and help the team in any way they need,” McDonald said, “And boy, has she done just that.”
Webster-Longin was asked to fill in as an emergency injury replacement during her first meet of the season and has figured out how to be successful whenever she’s placed in the lineup.
“At least for me, trusting the work I put in this year and even the experience I’ve had last year helped me be able to step up for those pressure situations and important moments,” she said.
Alipio has turned the page
UCLA gymnast Ciena Alipio celebrates after competing on the uneven bars during the Big Four meet at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 27.
(Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)
During the Big Ten championship, Ciena Alipio fell during her balance beam routine. It was a moment when she was looking forward to doing her best, McDonald said, but Alipio didn’t have the result she wanted. Instead, it was a great lesson for her to learn — mistakes happen.
“She’s just really been able to turn the page and get back into training,” she added. “She’s had a great week of training. She looked phenomenal and just really dialed in and it kind of put those kinds of mistakes behind you.”
SACRAMENTO — The UCLA women’s basketball team hasn’t lost a game in 120 days. In that time, the Bruins have outscored opponents by a total of 806 points and just one other school — UConn — has gone without a loss during the same stretch.
Yet somehow, the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento 2 region of the NCAA tournament hasn’t captured the same momentum and praise as the other three top seeds who have muscled their way into the Sweet 16.
UCLA (33-1) will play No. 4 Minnesota (24-8) at 4:30 p.m. PDT Friday in Sacramento. The game will air on ESPN. Entering the matchup, is UCLA’s less dominant NCAA tournament run a cause for concern? Or is a win a win when it comes to March?
“Each game is going to present different adversity points,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “And I think that we don’t look at it as getting back to something. We look at it as everything is a learning opportunity. ‘What does that teach us? How does that make us better? What kinds of things do we need to tighten up?’”
UCLA forwards Angela Dugalic and Gabriela Jaquez double team California Baptist guard Filipa Barros during the first round of the NCAA tournament at Pauley Pavilion on March 21.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
As the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, UCLA is on a projected collision course with the top overall seed, undefeated UConn, on the other side of the bracket.
But the Bruins, who have lost just once this year, also might have to hit another gear to get to to beat formidable teams still in the tournament field.
UCLA punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament with a Big Ten title game win over Iowa by 51 points. Since then, the Bruins haven’t achieved that kind of dominance even against lesser opponents.
Iowa, which flamed out to No. 10 seed Virginia in the second round last week, could have simply been less prepared than other NCAA tournament teams. But the Bruins do acknowledge they also have room to improve.
“I think we’re a really steady team, and obviously we’re gonna do whatever we can to win, and it changes every game, because of different teams,” said graduate forward Angela Dugalic. “But at the same time, I do feel like I have more to give, and that’s not a bad thing.”
UCLA defeated No. 16 seed California Baptist 96-43 before an 87-68 win against No. 8 seed Oklahoma State, leading the Cowgirls wire-to-wire but getitng outscored in the second half. The Bruins led the Lancers by just 10 points at the half of the first-round contest.
A 19-point win is a dominant showing for any team, but with the rest of the No. 1 seeds winning by at least 40 points, has UCLA shown that it is at the same level?
“I don’t really look at it that way from those two games,” Close said. “I just think everything is measuring ourselves against the championship standards that we’ve set, and those are process standards. And so if we fall short in an area, it’s how we get back to what we know how to do and what’s under our control.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice points across the court while talking with coach Cori Close during an NCAA tournament game against California Baptist on March 21 at Pauley Pavilion.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
UCLA has the second-largest spread among the No. 1 seeds entering the Sweet 16 round, with oddsmakers favoring the Bruins to beat Minnesota by 18.5 points. UConn leads all teams as a 27.5-point favorite to beat No. 4 seed North Carolina. The Bruins haven’t won a game by fewer than 10 points since a 69-66 overtime victory over Ohio State on Feb. 8.
Minnesota has the ninth-best NET of remaining teams, which is better than the other teams matched up against No. 1 seeds (North Carolina is 19th, Oklahoma is 13th and Kentucky is 16th).
During UCLA’s 76-58 win over Minnesota in January, Kiki Rice scored a season-high 25 points. Since then, the Gophers have gone 12-4 while winning games by an average just under nine points while UCLA has gone 17-0 with an average margin of victory of 26.9.
“No team is perfect ever,” UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens said. “So I think [we’re] just making sure that we know what to do, and we know what it takes to be our best. So just making sure we can do that 40 minutes every game is going to be the thing we take away [from the first and second rounds.]”
Since UCLA beat Minnesota, the Gophers took down No. 5 seed Ole Miss, a team that many picked as a tournament sleeper and shot 46.2% from the field during the season.
“They’ve gotten better, but so have we and once the postseason comes, the best teams, the most successful teams, they find ways to just continue to get better,” Rice said. “To stay true to that process, but to take it up to a next level. Because at this time of the year, it’s do or die, and you gotta compete really hard.”
UCLA’s 28.6 average margin of victory is fifth in the country behind the tournament’s other No. 1 seeds and No. 2 seed LSU, a team the Bruins might face Sunday in the Elite Eight.
LSU, the highest-scoring team in the nation, faces No. 3 Duke on Friday night. If UCLA and LSU win, it would set up the third consecutive season they have met in the NCAA tournament. UCLA won the matchup last season 72-65 to get to the Final Four, while the Tigers upset the Bruins in the 2024 Sweet 16 en route to a national title.
But March tests are far more challenging that anything the Bruins have faced to date. The veteran UCLA team is confident it can keep evolving as it chases a national title.
“I think [improving] just requires us to take things to a different place and be more aggressive and dictate in all aspects,” Dugalic said. “That’s the beauty of it, we can get there.”
