Rory McIlroy Just Did Something No Masters Champion Has Done Since Tiger Woods

Rory McIlroy picked up right where he left off.

The defending Masters champion opened the 2026 tournament with a 5-under 67 on Thursday, sharing the first-round lead with Sam Burns and immediately putting himself in position to do something that hasn't been done in more than two decades.

McIlroy is chasing back-to-back Masters titles — and after Round 1, he's right on track. Only three players in the history of the tournament have ever won consecutive Masters: Jack Nicklaus in 1965 and 1966, Nick Faldo in 1989 and 1990, and Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. McIlroy won his first green jacket in 2025 in a Sunday playoff over Justin Rose. A victory this week would put him in that company.

Round One of the Masters for Rory

What makes Thursday's round more remarkable is how it happened. McIlroy hit just five fairways all day — an unusually low number even by Augusta standards — but ground out birdies when he needed them and avoided the kind of compounding mistakes that can wreck a Masters round in a matter of holes.

"I feel like the way I played, 5-under sort of exceeded where I thought I would be," McIlroy said after his round. "I think a fair score for me today would have been like 2-under maybe. But I used my head and I didn't compound mistakes. That's just a learning curve you have to go through around here, and I did it well today."

He is now just the sixth defending Masters champion in history to open the following year's tournament with 67 or better. The last to do so was Jordan Spieth in 2016 — who finished tied for second. The only one to go on and win was Nicklaus in 1966.

Round 2 tees off Friday. McIlroy will need to keep it going.