Rory McIlroy ended his first round with a share of the lead (Image: Getty)
The unburdened Rory McIlroy that his rivals feared after his Masters triumph 12 months ago has arrived. And the five-time major champion spoke with an air of invincibility after a stellar opening round. With his Green Jacket safely hanging in the champions’ locker room Augusta National’s clubhouse, nothing could disturb him as he overcame some poor swings to grind out a five-under-par 67 to take a share of the early lead alongside Sam Burns.
For more than a decade, McIlroy was weighed down by the lustre of Augusta National and the significance of the career Grand Slam, but with those demons banished by his 2025 triumph, he played masterfully to plot his way to the top of the leaderboard. “I’ve been saying all week that there is a certain freedom. If I hit it in the trees, it’s okay, I’ll go figure it out,” he said. “Wherever I hit it on this golf course, I feel like I’ve seen it all over the past 18 years, and I always feel like I can figure it out and get it to the front of a green, make a par, and move on, and I did that quite a bit on the front line today.
“Then I started find my game a bit on the back nine. I swung freely even when I was missing tee shots on the front nine. I still kept swinging. I didn’t start to get tentative; I kept swinging away, just hoping that sooner or later I’d find it, and I did.”
He continued: “It’s a great start. There’s a long way to go, but yeah, I’m right in the tournament, and it’s a lot better than starting from seven behind going into the second round like last year. A great start, but I can’t get ahead of myself.”
McIlroy showed he is ready to go back-to-back at the Masters. The reigning champion carded a five-under-par 67 to share the early lead with American Sam Burns at Augusta National.
Seventeen years of Augusta demons were exorcised here 12 months ago, and after months of soul searching for a new Everest to climb, the 36-year-old fancies adding to his haul of five Majors this week.
That he was far from his best for the majority of his opening loop will only boost his belief that he can emulate Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in successfully defending at the Masters.
Some contemporaries felt powerless as they saw his name fly up the leaderboard on the back nine; close friend Shane Lowry felt vastly inferior and joked McIlroy could win four on the trot.
The world No. 2 gleefully indulged in his status as reigning champion this week before the serious business began, floating around Augusta National and wishing this week would never end.
That breeziness carried into his play early on. He started scruffily, spraying drives left and right, but he scrambled well to limit the damage.
His tee shot at the par-five second carried the bunker but careened into the pine straw. An ugly second flew beyond the gallery rope, but he responded with a world-class pitch to open his birdie account.
Rory McIlroy is the defending Masters champion (Image: Getty)
The Ulsterman would give that shot back at the third, but he was back in the red at eight thanks to a piercing 3-wood into the uphill par five, setting up a tap-in birdie.
He made more ground at the ninth, following a thumping drive with a precise approach, and he drained the downhill dribbler to get to two under. Amen Corner soon arrived, and he safely navigated the perilous 12 and 13 before a 13th hole that encapsulated his round.
His tee shot refused to draw, and his ball nestled deep in the pines. Forced to punch out, he gave himself a mid-range birdie opportunity and duly capitalised.
For a player renowned for flair, this performance was substance over style — the kind of round he would have given a limb for in the depths of his banished Masters woes.
A dose of trademark McIlroy brilliance arrived at 14, splitting the fairway and wedging close to get to four-under. Now he was in the groove.
At 15, he had a share of the lead, holing from range down the hill and unleashing a hearty pump of his fist. The 16th and 17th were navigated without alarm, though he was frustrated not to take advantage of good birdie chances.
Then it was for the scene of his career-defining triumph. The culmination of his life’s work played out on Augusta National’s 18th green a year ago. This time, he failed to find the fairway but escaped the bunker with a sensible second to the heart of the putting surface.
A two-putt par put the bow on an ominous opening round for his rivals, displaying the kind of pragmatism and sensibility that can only emanate from a mind without burden.
His preparation had been far from ideal, nursing a back niggle last month, but make no mistake, Rory McIlroy is not here to bask in past glory.