Defending champion McIlroy shares first-round Masters lead with Burns

Rory McIlroy got his Masters title defence off to a solid start as he scrambled brilliantly around a firm and fast Augusta National on Thursday to grab a share of the first-round lead with Sam Burns, while former LIV Golf player Patrick Reed was among a pack sitting two shots back.

McIlroy, who has often struggled in the opening round of the Masters, looked plenty comfortable on a course he finally conquered in 2025 as he showcased a new level of confidence en route to a five-under-par 67 that left him level with Burns.

“Winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one,” said McIlroy, who hit just five fairways. “It’s easier for me to make those (difficult) swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that I can go to the Champions Locker Room and put my Green Jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day.”

McIlroy, aiming to become the fourth man to retain the Masters title and first since Tiger Woods in 2001-2002, reached the turn at two under on the day but mounted his charge starting with a birdie at the par-five 13th where he had to hit through a gap in the trees after an errant tee shot.

The Northern Irishman followed that with two more birdies, including at the par-five 15th where he rolled in a 29-footer to draw level with Burns.

‘THE LEAD AT THIS POINT IS IRRELEVANT’

Kurt Kitayama, Australian Jason Day and 2018 Masters champion Reed were two shots off the pace in a share of second while 2025 runner-up Justin Rose, who bogeyed his final two holes, was a further shot adrift with Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele.

“The lead at this point is irrelevant. I think there’s so much golf ahead that, yeah, there’s no point in even looking at who is doing what at this moment in time,” said Rose.

“It’s just about, like I said, just executing your strategy, feeling like you can run the clock down, playing as well as you can, and then towards the end you’ve got to kind of figure out if you need to change your strategy, but until the final few holes really it’s just about doing as good as you can do.”

World number 33 Burns, who has never led after the first round of a major, was playing six groups ahead of McIlroy and did most of his damage on the four par-fives, which he covered in five under par.

“Historically people who have success here play the par-fives really well, and we were able to do that today,” said Burns, who has represented the U.S. in the previous two Ryder Cups. “So it’s a good recipe around this golf course.”

DECHAMBEAU UNDONE BY TRIPLE-BOGEY

Two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, one of 10 LIV Golf players in the 91-man starting field and who briefly led in the final round last year, ran into trouble at the par-four 11th where he needed three shots to get out of a greenside bunker and carded a triple-bogey en route to an opening 76.

“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” said DeChambeau, who came into the week red-hot after winning the last two LIV Golf events.

Scheffler, a two-time Masters winner looking to hold three majors at the same time after winning the PGA Championship and British Open last year, went out in the penultimate group and quickly got to within two shots of the lead but was unable to close the gap as he left a number of birdie putts short.

Twice champion Jose Maria Olazabal, playing in his 37th Masters, rolled back the years as the Spaniard became the fourth player in tournament history aged 60 or older to shoot two-under or better over his first nine holes of a Masters.