#Deadspin #Rory #McIlroy #tied #lead #Masters #defense">Deadspin | Rory McIlroy tied for lead to begin Masters defense
Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Rory McIlroy acknowledges the crowd on the 18th green during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy began the defense of his first Masters title with a 5-under-par 67 that gave him a share of the afternoon lead with Sam Burns at Augusta National on Thursday.
It is only the third time in 18 Masters starts that McIlroy has broken 70 in the first round, and the second-lowest opening-round score he has posted, only trailing a 65 in 2011.
“Great, great start to the week, obviously. Felt like I got a lot out of my round today,” he said. “I settled into the round nicely even when I wasn’t hitting fairways.”
Thursday’s effort tied the 5 under posted by Burns earlier in the afternoon. Both players took significant advantage of the par-5s. Burns eagled the second hole and birdied the three others, while McIlroy birdied all four of them.
“I think 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.
Like Burns, McIlroy made his turn in 2 under before carding a 3-under 33 on the back nine courtesy of three consecutive birdies from Nos. 13-15.
McIlroy acknowledged earlier this week that last year’s victory took a “big weight” off his shoulders. And now he’s in an excellent position as he attempts to become only the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.
McIlroy shot an opening-round 72 in 2025 that left him in a tie for 27th, and his average opening score in 17 previous Masters was 71.7. Through what he called a shaky first seven holes, a low round didn’t appear to be in the cards. Then a birdie at No. 8 led to playing his final 11 holes in 5 under.
McIlroy said that in previous years he might not have been patient enough to overcome a shaky start, but last year’s victory gave him the ability to keep swinging freely rather than tentatively.
“I was nervous, I was anxious just like I always am on that first tee,” he said. “It’s the first round of the 16 most important rounds of the season. It would be worrisome if I didn’t feel that way, because it still means something to me.”
Earlier, Burns posted the best score of his Masters career in any round, besting the 68 he shot in the first round in 2023. In 12 rounds through four previous appearances at Augusta National, that had been the lone time Burns had broken 70 until Thursday.
But he doesn’t plan on spending much time dwelling on the overnight leaderboard.
“I feel like you start thinking, you know, in the past or in the future, this is not really a golf course you want to do that,” he said. “I think for me just trying to go out, execute, have a good process, commit to the shot and just be accepting of whatever happens.”
Patrick Reed also reached 5 under by eagling both par-5s on the front nine to make his turn at 31, but the 2018 Masters champion gave a shot back at No. 10 before putting a ball in the water on the par-5 15th for another bogey to enter the clubhouse at 3 under.
“All in all, there was a lot of quality golf shots,” Reid said. “I felt like I played a lot better kind of than the score today. I hit the ball pretty solid, gave myself a lot of good looks and made a couple of putts.”
Kurt Kitayama finished an eventful day at 3-under 69. He reached 4 under through 10 holes before a bogey on No. 11 and a double bogey on the short par-3 12th. He was able to card birdies on two of his final holes to get to the clubhouse among the early leaders.
Bryson DeChambeau, who is seeking to build on his best Masters finish of fifth place last year, was at even par entering the 11th through 13 holes, known as “Amen Corner.” He put his approach shot on No. 11 into the bunker behind the green. DeChambeau then failed to get out of the bunker on his first two attempts and ended up carding a triple bogey on the hole.
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” DeChambeau offered when asked about what happened on 11, adding that he hit a solid approach shot that flew 12 yards further than he wanted.
DeChambeau finished the day at 4 over following a bogey-birdie-bogey finish.
NOTES: The 91-player field includes 22 first-time players — six amateurs and 16 professionals. Each amateur is paired with a Masters champion for the first two rounds of the tournament.
#Deadspin #Bryson #DeChambeau #humbled #misadventures #opening #Masters">Deadspin | Bryson DeChambeau humbled by misadventures, opening 76 at Masters
Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Bryson DeChambeau reacts to his tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Bryson DeChambeau knows the feeling of something between proud accomplishment and elation, walking off the 18th green after the first round with the lead at the Masters. And he got reacquainted with the opposite emotion on Thursday.
DeChambeau blasted a patron with his tee shot on No. 6 and the generous bounce was a benefit with the ball fading hard left. The patron, later greeted by DeChambeau and gifted the golf ball to pair with the parting bruise, was struck and the ball rolled closer to the green.
He whacked and hacked his way out of a sand trap for a triple-bogey 7 at No. 11 and spent time staring at the green on 18, leaning heavily on his upside-down putter and closing out his round of 4-over-par 76 with a a three-putt finish. He birdied Nos. 3 and 17, and made bogey at Nos. 2, 16 and 18.
“Bunker was softer than I anticipated,” DeChambeau said exiting the course of his beach challenge at 11.
Entering the first round Thursday, DeChambeau had eight consecutive rounds within the top 10 at the Masters. He was closer to the bottom 10 on this day.
Iron play was a letdown. DeChambeau overshot the green multiple times. He hit 44% of greens in regulation and was tied for 63rd when he signed his scorecard at 3:30 ET on Thursday afternoon. Of course, he transitioned straight to the driving range where the celebrated grinder appeared certain to test the curfew on the grounds Thursday night.
“Just going to give what the golf course gives me. I have to try to hit my irons better,” DeChambeau said. “I drove it left numerous occasions. Did a great job on 18. Wind didn’t hurt it like we thought, and that’s this game. That’s the golf course.”
A turnaround isn’t remotely out of the question. DeChambeau held the 18-hole lead with a 65 in the first round in 2024. That followed first-round scores of 76 in 2021 and 2022 and 74 in 2023.
No player who has carded a triple-bogey during the tournament has wound up wearing the green jacket on Sunday.
“Why am I hooking … everything!?” DeChambeau shouted rhetorically after floating his second on 18 out of the sand and well short of his greenside target.
His third, a chip from off the green, landed well left of the hole and side spin took it 30 feet from the hole. A three-putt mercifully ended his round.
In his 2024 opening round, the streaky DeChambeau had five birdies in the final seven holes. He doesn’t feel like he’s out of anything yet.
“You know, everybody has an ability for weird things to happen, and today I just did not have my irons under control, which is weird,” DeChambeau said. “It’s been good coming into it.”
#Holger #Rune #return #action #Achilles #surgery #set #play #Hamburg #Open">Holger Rune to return to action after Achilles surgery, set to play at Hamburg Open
Three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Holger Rune will return to action at next month’s Hamburg Open after having Achilles surgery in October, tournament organisers said on Thursday.
Rune suffered the season-ending Achilles tendon rupture in the Stockholm Open semifinals when he was up a set against Ugo Humbert. Days later, he returned to the top 10 in the world rankings despite losing out on a second title of the year.
“The hard work starts in Hamburg. I can’t wait to be back on clay at the Bitpanda Hamburg Open and to finally experience the atmosphere on site again after such a long break,” the 22-year-old Dane said in a statement.
The Hamburg Open starts on May 16, with Germany’s world number three Alexander Zverev also taking part, organisers said.
Post Comment