There is still a lot of golf left at Augusta National, but the Northern Irish world number two has at least gotten off to a good start in his title defense after last year's long-awaited victory.
After a slightly shaky start to the round, Rory McIlroy finished with a 67 and shares the lead with Sam Burns of the USA.
"Honestly, I couldn't have gotten more out of my round. I feel like I leaned a lot on my experience out there," McIlroy said.
A couple of other favorites had it even worse. Not least among them were the LIV duo Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, who with 76 and 78 strokes respectively are far from the lead after the first round.
