McIlroy has another reason to celebrate with his best Masters start in 15 years to share the lead

AUGUSTA, Georgia — Rory McIlroy has been celebrating all week at Augusta National as the defending champion, and on Thursday he found something else to savor — a 5-under 67, his lowest start at the Masters in 15 years to share the lead with Sam Burns. McIlroy hit only five fairways but still managed to settle into his round when he blistered a 3-wood out of the first cut over the hill and onto the green at the par-5 eighth. That set up the first of five birdies in an eight-hole stretch on a day he got nearly everything he could out of his round. Only one other player in the last 10 years — Hideki Matsuyama in 2021 — shot 67 while hitting only five fairways. McIlroy wasn't the least bit bothered. There was a freedom in his swing, and nothing is more freeing than finally having a Masters green jacket. "I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one. I do," McIlroy said. "It's hard to say because there's 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 really where it goes. "But I think 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 my green jacket on at the end of the day." Burns was among the early starters. He played the par 5s with three birdies and an eagle and wound up with his lowest score in his fifth Masters appearance. "Historically, people who have success here play the par 5s really well, and we were able to do that today. So it's a good recipe around this golf course," Burns said. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world going for a third green jacket in the last five years, was 3 under through three holes in the tougher afternoon, when the light gusts began playing tricks and the greens got crispy. He had one bogey and 14 pars the rest of the way for a 70. The whole day was tough, and the forecast — this could be the first Masters in 25 years without any rain — has everyone on edge thinking what the next three days could hold. Yes, the weather was gorgeous. But dry and firm conditions are scary, even in this marvelous garden. "It was very firm for a Thursday out there," Scheffler said. "We'll see how much they want to push it." Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters champion and a two-time winner on the European tour this year, was at 69 along with Jason Day and Kurt Kitayama. Reed was atop the leaderboard for so much of the day due to two eagles on the front nine that sent him out in 31. But he dropped a shot on the 10th, and then was flummoxed by what he thought was an ideal shot for his second into the par-5 15th. Such are the firmness of the greens that his shot hit hard off the back of the green, bounded down the slope and didn't stop rolling until it was in the pond on No. 16. "Water?" Reed asked his caddie as he looked toward the green. "It landed on the green." He later described it as a "head-scratcher." "I knew if it went over the green, we would be fine," Reed said. "Didn't really think I was going to go 30 yards over the green." Justin Rose, twice a playoff loser in the Masters, was in range of the lead until he dropped three shots over the last five holes and had to settle for a 70, tied with Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry. The greens are already are so firm that Rose quipped, "You might get a yellow jacket if you win." That was a reference to the shade of the greens — a yellow sheen means firm and fast, and that color on Thursday can make players nervous. "I think it's in their control, really, how they want it to be," Rose said. "I think overall every player would say they would like it firm and fast, but I think there's a boundary to that." While the lack of a big wind made it manageable, Augusta National can still take a bite out of anyone with enough swirling gusts to bring indecision, or bad shots that wind up in the wrong spot. Bryson DeChambeau found that out on the 11th hole when he put his approach in the right bunker and it took him three to get out on his way to a 76. Jon Rahm turned potential birdie or better into a double bogey with a shot into the azalea bushes on the par-5 13th. He didn't make a birdie in his 78. Only five players broke 70, and only 16 players broke par, the lowest in five years at the Masters for the opening round. Ten players failed to break 80. One of them was Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, the No. 8 player in the world. He was among three players to take quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 15th. McIlroy wasn't sure want to expect in his 18th appearance, his first as the Masters champion. Only twice had he started with rounds in the 60s, his best a 65 in 2011. That year, he went on to shoot 80 on the final day. There were still nerves. It's still Augusta National. "My hope was to get off to a solid start," he said. "I feel like the way I played, 5 under, exceeded where I thought I would be or what I wanted to do."