McIlroy Tied for Lead at Augusta After Impressive Opening Round

Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, has made a strong start to his bid for back-to-back Masters titles, sharing the lead after the opening day at Augusta National. McIlroy carded a 67, which included five birdies in an eight-hole stretch, to join Sam Burns at the top of the leaderboard on five under par. Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, and world number one Scottie Scheffler are also in contention, but Bryson DeChambeau had a disappointing day, shooting a four-over 76. McIlroy, who is looking to become the first player to retain the Green Jacket since Tiger Woods, found momentum after a slow start, with successive birdies helping him reach the turn in 34. He then started a fresh birdie burst, taking advantage of the par-five 13th, and another birdie at the next took him to four under with four holes to play. McIlroy avoided a repeat of last year's expensive finish, taking advantage of the par-five 15th to pull level with Burns. '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 and Scheffler also had strong starts, but DeChambeau struggled, taking three attempts to get out of a greenside bunker on his way to a triple-bogey seven at the 11th.