McIlroy Takes Early Lead at Augusta, DeChambeau Struggles

Rory McIlroy made a strong start to his title defense at The Masters, sharing the lead with Sam Burns after the first round at Augusta National. McIlroy, who is seeking to become the first back-to-back winner at The Masters since Tiger Woods, carded a 67 to join Burns at five under. The world No 2 made five birdies in an eight-hole stretch, recovering from a slow start to put himself in contention. Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler are also in the mix, while Bryson DeChambeau had a disastrous opening round, shooting a four-over 76. McIlroy's bid to retain the Green Jacket got off to a dream start, with the five-time major champion finding his rhythm after a slow beginning. He cancelled out an early birdie with a bogey but then found momentum with successive birdies, reaching the turn in 34. McIlroy started a fresh birdie burst by taking advantage of the par-five 13th and another birdie at the next took him to four under with four holes to play. He avoided a repeat of last year's expensive finish by taking advantage of the par-five 15th to pull level with Burns. McIlroy missed a birdie opportunity for the solo lead at the 17th but equalled the second-lowest opening round by a defending champion. Burns also posted a career-best round at The Masters to join McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard. McIlroy reflected on his round, saying, 'I felt like I got a lot out of my round. It started pretty scrappy, but I stayed patient and leaned heavily on my experience.' Kitayama briefly held the solo lead after four birdies in a five-hole stretch, while Reed and Scheffler also had their moments but ultimately slipped back. Rose sits tied-sixth after carding five birdies and three bogeys, and Lowry recovered from being over-par after seven holes to get back to two under. DeChambeau struggled, taking three attempts to get out of a greenside bunker on his way to a triple-bogey seven, leaving him nine strokes adrift. Rahm failed to register a birdie on the opening day and is tied-73rd in a 91-man field.