Relaxed Rory McIlroy dominates with ease and confidence at Masters
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AUGUSTA, GA – They call it Yellow Jasmine around these parts.
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It’s the 570-yard par-5 eighth hole at Augusta National, and it’s a prime spot for fans to watch their favorite golfers rip a tee shot.
The hole just begs golfers to pull driver and let the big dog eat.
As Rory McIlroy walked toward the No. 8 tee box, he received a hero’s welcome. Big cheers all around, the type of greeting reserved for popular golfers who own green jackets.
One patron positioned along the rope line hollered encouragement to the defending Masters champion.
Let’s do it again, buddy!
Buddy, he just might do it again.
McIlroy looks dialed in.
He's given an air of relaxed but confident all week. He turned in a scorecard filled with red ink and no big numbers for a 5-under 67 in Round 1.
McIlroy’s name joined Sam Burns atop the leaderboard when his round finished, with other golfers still out on the course.
One green jacket changed McIlroy’s legacy. He’s in the career Grand Slam club now.
A second consecutive Masters victory would be epic — especially if it happens this year.
Only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have ever gone back-to-back.
And did McIlroy come into 2026 determined to join them on that list of consecutive winners? Well, not really. Let McIlroy shoot it to you straight.
“Obviously it would be nice” to win again, he said after his round, but that “certainly wasn't the forefront of my mind when I started 2026.”
Maybe, that’s the point.
No need for Rory McIlroy to stress at Masters. He's got a green jacket
McIlroy doesn’t have to stress here anymore. The mountain of pressure left his shoulders when that sudden-death playoff putt rolled in last April, and he claimed his 38 Regular in Pantone 342.
He kept the mood light the first few holes, chatting with teenage playing partner Mason Howell. McIlroy and the 18-year-old amateur shared a few laughs.
Don’t mistake that for nonchalance. McIlroy comes across as that perfect mix of focused, but at ease.
Oh, sure, the nerves aren’t entirely gone. It’s still the Masters. Big stakes here, always. Rory acknowledged feeling a bit anxious before his tee shot on No. 1. He missed the fairway.
And, still, there’s no going back to that time when McIlroy had the label of best active player without a green jacket. He’s got his. Now, bring on the gravy.
Here's how Rory McIlroy became Round 1 leader at Augusta National
Let’s go back to the eighth hole.
McIlroy’s drive missed the fairway to the right. Not awful, just a bit off the mark. That became the story of his front nine off the tee.
The moneymaker was still to come. McIlroy choked down on a 3-wood and hammered his second shot out of the first cut and onto the green.
“It came out perfectly,” he said.
He’d take that shot every day, and twice on Sunday.
Two putts and in for birdie, and onto the next.
That’s how he carded a 67, on a day when he wasn’t at his best with the driver.
That, and needing only 27 putts.
“Honestly, I couldn't have got a lot more out of my round,” he said. “I feel like I leaned heavily on my experience out there.”
The amateur playing with McIlroy got a lesson in how to card a good number without having your best driver. McIlroy scrambled well. He putted well. He avoided disaster. He stayed the course, one year after conquering the course.
“I definitely could learn a lot from how he played today,” said Howell, a high school senior who described playing with McIlroy as an “awesome” experience. “When he was in trouble, he took his medicine and then, by that, he was able to go up there and make a lot of putts.”
“I guess that's what it takes to be the first-round leader,” Howell added.
The rest of the field can’t say McIlroy didn’t warn them he’d go low. Before the tournament, McIlroy said that, of the four majors, he thought he was best positioned to win the Masters again at some point in his career.
Rory McIlroy and Sunday at Augusta are always worth a watch
Now, after all of that praise for McIlroy's round, here’s some caution: It’s a long journey between Round 1 and the Sunday green jacket ceremony.
McIlroy has now scored in the 60s in the first round three times in 18 Masters appearances.
He led the field after the first round in 2011. His game came unglued on Sunday.
He carded a good number in Round 1 in 2018. He withered on Sunday again.
As McIlroy tells it, no matter how these next three rounds go, he still can go into the Champions Locker Room and put on his green jacket.
Because, thanks to his triumph last year, he’s earned his spot in that exclusive locker room, and he owns a green jacket.
You better believe that’s freeing.
“I think winning a Masters makes it easier to win your second one,” McIlroy said. “I do.”
The score McIlroy turned in Thursday suggests he’s right.
Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rory McIlroy said he could win Masters again. Looks like he's right