Rory McIlroy off to great start on Masters title defence

Rory McIlroy made an excellent start to the defence of his Masters title as he shot a five-under-par 67 to hold a share of the first-round lead alongside Sam Burns.

The Northern Irishman, who completed the career Grand Slam with a dramatic play-off victory over Justin Rose last year, posted his lowest opening round at Augusta National since a 65 in 2011.

McIlroy mixed six birdies – including a hat-trick of them on the back nine – with a solitary bogey to match American Burns, who eagled the par five second on his way to his career best score at the Georgia venue.

It is an ideal start for McIlroy in his bid to become only the fourth player to retain the Green Jacket, while a win would also see him match Sir Nick Faldo’s haul of six Major Championships.

“Great start to the week obviously,” he said of his opening round.

“Honestly, I couldn’t have got a lot more out of my round today. I feel like I leaned heavily on my experience out there to do that.”

McIlroy has cut an understandably relaxed figure this week, embracing the perks that come with being a Masters winner with the highlight being the Champions Dinner on Tuesday.

Many outside observers wondered whether he would have the edge required, but he disproved that notion in emphatic fashion.

Among the morning starters on day one, the 36-year-old birdied the second but gave the shot back straight away with a three-putt bogey at the third.

After a string of pars, in part due to impressive recovery play, he finished his back nine with a pair of birdies to hit the turn in two under.

But things were to get better as he made a run of three consecutive gains from the 13th through to the 15th as he birdied all four par fives at Augusta, with the latter of those the pick of the bunch after holing a swinging left-to-right putt from around 30 feet.

He closed with three pars, with little fuss, to ensure a job well done but he knows improvements can be made having hit just five fairways off the tee.

“My hope was to get off to a solid start,” he added. “I feel like the way I played, five under sort of exceeded where I thought I would be or what I wanted to do.

“I think a fair score for me today would have been like two under maybe with some of the places I hit it.

“But again, I used my head and I got up-and-down when I needed to. I didn't compound mistakes. Again, that's just a learning curve that you have to go through around here, and I did it well today.”

Burns, making his fifth start at the Masters, made an eagle at the second, hitting a brilliant approach to 11 feet with a six iron.

After trading shots at the sixth and eighth, the five-time PGA TOUR winner picked up three shots in a four-hole run from the 12th including at both par fives on the back nine to card his 67.

“I drove it really nice and that obviously helps,” he said. “I think historically people who have success here play the par fives really well, and we were able to do that today. It's a good recipe around this golf course, yeah.”

Patrick Reed, the Race to Dubai leader, sits in a tie for third alongside fellow American Kurt Kitayama and Australia's Jason Day at three under.

A shot further back is World Number One Scottie Scheffler and Rose among others, the Englishman having dropped shots at the 17th and 18th in a stumbling finish to what had otherwise been an impressive performance on his 21st Masters start.

"I think overall a good start," said Rose of his opening 70.

"Just big-picture, kind of knew the course was going to be playing tricky today, especially this afternoon.

"Obviously my day, yeah, spoiled a little bit by two late bogeys, but other than that, I think a good start to the tournament."