McIlroy Tied for Lead at Augusta After Impressive Opening Round

Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, made a strong start to his title defense at The Masters, sharing the lead with Sam Burns after the first round. McIlroy's five birdies in an eight-hole stretch helped him post an opening-round 67, leaving him tied with Burns on five under par. The world No 2 is two shots ahead of Jason Day, Patrick Reed, and Kurt Kitayama, who are tied for third. Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler are also within three shots of the lead. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau had a nightmare start, struggling to a four-over 76, while former champion Jon Rahm had a disappointing opening round of 78. McIlroy, seeking to become the first back-to-back winner at The Masters since Tiger Woods, found momentum after a slow start, with successive birdies helping him reach the turn in 34. He continued his birdie burst with another at the 13th and later took 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. 'I felt like I got a lot out of my round,' McIlroy said. 'It started pretty scrappy, but I stayed really patient when I needed to.' Kitayama briefly held the solo lead after four birdies in a five-hole stretch, while Reed led after eagling both par-fives on the first nine. Scheffler threatened the clubhouse target but played the rest of his round in one over to slip three off the leaders. Rose sits tied-sixth after carding five birdies and three bogeys, with Lowry recovering from being over-par after seven holes to also get back to two under. Aaron Rai is among the group on one under as he bids to become the first player to claim the Masters Par 3 Contest and major victory in the same week. DeChambeau took three attempts to get out of a greenside bunker on his way to a triple-bogey seven, leaving him nine strokes adrift, while Rahm is tied-73rd in a 91-man field after failing to register a birdie on the opening day.