The 90th edition of the Masters Tournament got underway under bright, blustery conditions at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, with defending champion Rory McIlroy launching his historic bid for consecutive green jackets while 2018 winner Patrick Reed stormed out to an unexpected early lead in the opening round.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, currently ranked second in the world, etched his name into golf history last year when he captured his first Masters title to complete a career Grand Slam of all four major championships. This week, he is gunning for a place among the sport’s most elite champions: only three legends of the game — Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Nick Faldo — have ever claimed back-to-back Masters titles, and McIlroy is aiming to become the fourth.
McIlroy got his opening round off to a tested but solid start. After sending his opening tee shot drifting under pine trees on the left side of the fairway, his approach fell just short of the putting surface, but a fortuitous bounce rolled his ball onto the green. He calmly sank a five-foot par putt to save his opening hole, avoiding an early stumble on the firm, lightning-fast Augusta greens.
Heading into the tournament, the 5-time major champion said he was taking a relaxed approach to his title defense. “I relish being free in my swing and in my thoughts” on the opening tee, he noted, while warning that the 2025 course would present one of the toughest tests in recent memory. “It’s going to be a tough test. The wind is going to be up. Greens are going to get firm. It’s certainly not going to be a birdie-fest,” McIlroy said. “It’s going to require patience. It’s going to require more of a mental grind maybe.”
Playing alongside McIlroy, world number three and recent Players Championship winner Cameron Young got off to a rough start, opening his round with a bogey that left him early behind the curve.
It was Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, who stole the early spotlight. The American got out to a blistering start, sinking a six-foot birdie putt on the opening hole before holing out from off the green at the second for an eagle, putting him at three-under par through just two holes and into the outright early lead.
A tight group of chasers sat just one stroke back at two-under par, led by Kurt Kitayama, who notched back-to-back birdies at the par-three sixth and par-four seventh to hold his place in the early leaderboard.
Even the tournament’s veteran legends put on impressive early displays. Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, the 57-year-old Spaniard who claimed green jackets in 1994 and 1999, birdied the par-five second and par-three third — including a stunning 30-foot curling birdie putt at the third — before parring his way through the rest of the front nine to stay within striking distance early.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood matched Olazabal’s early run of birdies at the second and third holes, while 2019 British Open winner Shane Lowry of Ireland — who clinched the 2024 Ryder Cup for Europe with his closing putt last fall — opened with back-to-back birdies before a double bogey at the par-three fourth pulled him back down the leaderboard.
2020 and 2024 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who has picked up two LIV Golf titles in the past month and finished tied for fifth alongside McIlroy in last year’s final group, opened with a bogey at the second hole. He shared the early position with 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England and 2024 British Open and PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, an American.
The tournament’s top-ranked competitors were set to tee off in the afternoon groups. World number one and four-time major champion Scottie Scheffler, who is chasing a third Masters title in five seasons, was scheduled to tee off at 1:44 p.m. (1744 GMT) in the penultimate group, alongside American Gary Woodland — who claimed his first tour title in six years just two weeks ago — and Scotsman Robert MacIntyre.
2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm of Spain also teed off in the afternoon wave, paired with 2024 Masters runner-up Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, who notched an impressive second-place finish in his major debut last year, and American Chris Gotterup.