Rory McIlroy still full of belief after slow start to Grand Slam bid at Masters

World No 2 shoots even-par 72 in first round to sit seven shots behind the leaders at Augusta National

Rory McIlroy believes if he can shoot a round in the mid-60s on Friday he will be back in contention at The Masters. EPA

Rory McIlroy is confident the gap between himself and the leaders at the Masters is "not insurmountable" after getting off to a slow start in his ninth attempt to complete the career Grand Slam.

McIlroy arrived at Augusta National as one of the favourites to win the Green Jacket and finally add the Masters to his major haul of two PGA Championships, one Open Championship, and one US Open.

But while several of the game's big-name players took advantage of rather benign conditions to post low scores, world No 2 McIlroy carded an even-par 72 that left him seven shots back of the leaders and in a share of 37th place.

"I'm probably two or three shots behind how I'd like to be, considering how I played today. I think, if I had gotten the most out of my round, I would have shot 68 or 69. So a few shots back, but nothing that's not insurmountable," McIlroy, 33, said.

"I think I can go out there and give myself plenty of chances and play a great round of golf tomorrow and get myself back on that big white scoreboard."

McIlroy, who has paid the price for slow starts at Augusta National, did not look anywhere near as dialled as he did in March when he finished runner-up at Bay Hill and third in the Match Play event.

But there is still time for the Northern Irishman to turn things around and keep alive his hopes of completing his collection of major titles this year and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as winners of the career Grand Slam.

Weather forecasts expect more challenging conditions for the remaining three days, and McIlroy believes it could provide opportunities to those lower down the leaderboard.

"The more difficult the course is, I think that's probably favourable conditions for chasing a little bit or trying to catch up," said McIlroy, whose last major victory came in 2014.

"Look, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Hopefully we don't get affected by it too much, and we can get out there and play 18 holes uninterrupted. I can shoot something in the mid-60s and get myself back in it."

McIlroy reached the turn at one over par after mixing two birdies with a bogey and double-bogey and covered the back-nine and grinded his way home with three birdies against two bogeys over the back nine.

"Just a little untidy in places ... It's not disastrous, but I just need to sort of tidy it all up," said McIlroy. "I didn't feel like I was too far away today. I made five birdies but just a couple of too many mistakes on the card.