McIlroy Makes Strong Start in Bid to Defend Masters Title

Rory McIlroy has begun his defense of the Masters title with a strong start, taking the clubhouse lead after a remarkable opening round at Augusta National. A year after becoming the sixth male golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy has enhanced his chances of becoming only the fourth player to win back-to-back editions of the tournament. He carded an impressive five-under 67, which included six birdies and just one bogey, to share the early advantage with Sam Burns. 'It's a great start, but there's still a long way to go,' McIlroy said in an interview with Sky Sports. 'I'm in a good position in the tournament, and it's a lot better than being seven strokes behind going into the second round, like I was last year. I need to stay focused and not get ahead of myself, but I'm feeling good about my game right now.' McIlroy's round was marked by a mix of impressive birdies and resilient recoveries, including a brilliant par-save from the back of the 12th green and successive birdies over his next two holes. The 36-year-old avoided a repeat of last year's late Thursday stumble, where he made two late double bogeys and fell seven behind, as he drained a 30-foot birdie at the par-five 15th to pull level with Burns. McIlroy admitted that he felt the same nerves he always does at the start of a major, but he was glad to have gotten off to a good start. 'I thought I would feel different as the defending champion, but when I put my tee in the ground and my ball on the tee on the first hole, I felt the same nerves that I always feel,' he said. 'It's the first major of the year, and you want to get off to a good start, so I'm glad that I felt that way.' McIlroy only found five fairways off the tee but responded well whenever he was out of position, with his patience rewarded when five birdies in an eight-hole stretch pushed him up the leaderboard. Golf expert Butch Harmon praised McIlroy's performance, saying, 'He's been an escape artist today from some of the places he put himself. It's been a pretty impressive round to be five-under and tied for the lead.' McIlroy's impressive opening round came just hours after Jack Nicklaus, who became the first player to successfully defend at the Masters back in 1966, backed him to follow suit. 'If you're going to win two years in a row, you'll find conditions you like and maybe you don't find conditions you like, but you've got to adjust to both of those,' Nicklaus explained. 'Rory has got the monkey off his back, and I think he has a very, very good chance to repeat.' With a star-studded leaderboard, McIlroy is aware that there are plenty of great golfers who could challenge him for the title. 'There are plenty of great golfers out there that you have to worry about as well, not just him,' Jason Day said after his opening-round 69. 'McIlroy has got off to a great start. When I see five under leading, and with the weather we've got coming up, I've just got to be very patient and take my birdies when I can.'