McIlroy carded an opening 67 to sit atop the leaderboard with Sam Burns as a number of big names gather behind
Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose will attempt to lead the chasing pack at the Masters ahead of overnight leader Rory McIlroy resuming his bid for back-to-back crowns at Augusta National (18:44).
McIlroy took a little while to warm up on the opening day but then found his stride, making five birdies over the final 11 holes to immediately set himself up as the man to catch once again and sit at the top of the leaderboard alongside Sam Burns at five-under.
World No 1 Scheffler and last year’s runner-up Rose will both begin round two at two-under, having faded towards the end of yesterday, while the trio of Patrick Reed , Jason Day and Kurt Kitayama are the nearest challengers to McIlroy and Burns at three-under.
There were difficult days for Bryson DeChambeau , with no LIV Golf player managing to break par , as well as Robert MacIntyre , who faces a reprimand from Masters officials after raising his middle finger to the 15th hole during a nightmare round of eight-over.
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Not a lot of movement over the last couple of holes then as Wydnham Clark stays on -3 after the front nine.
Chris Gotterup has moved tied-10th after a birdie (he’s through three) and a bogey from Rai has moved him back to -1.
From Rose’s group, the Englishman and Spieth both took par on the second, while a birdie for Koepka brings him back level.
Elsewhere, Scheffler has settled for par on the first.
Leaderboard: -5 McIlroy (18:44), Burns (17:32); -3 Reed (18:08), Day (17:56), Kitayama (17:03), Clark (9); -2 Scheffler (1), Lowry (17:56), Schauffele (18:20)
Robert MacIntyre faces reprimand after giving Masters the middle finger
Robert MacIntyre is set for a Masters reprimand after sticking his middle finger up to the 15th hole during a nightmare opening round of +8 at Augusta National .
The Scot twice found the water on the final par-5, eventually carding a quadruple-bogey nine on the hole that may prove terminal to his chances of making the cut.
Right then, one of the main contenders is teeing off as Scottie Scheffler gets underway alongside Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland.
The world number one finds the fairway off the tee and his playing partners do the same.
Leaderboard: -5 McIlroy (18:44), Burns (17:32); -3 Reed (18:08), Day (17:56), Kitayama (17:03), Clark (8); -2 Scheffler (15:19), Lowry (17:56), Schauffele (18:20), Rai (3)
Aaron Rai has moved to -2 after another birdie on the third!
Not a bad start for the Englishman.
Scottie Scheffler is among those about to tee off in the next five minutes or so.
Leaderboard: -5 McIlroy (18:44), Burns (17:32); -3 Reed (18:08), Day (17:56), Kitayama (17:03), Clark (6); -2 Scheffler (15:19), Lowry (17:56), Schauffele (18:20), Rai (3)
A birdie for Jordan Spieth to begin day two!
He moves to -1.
Not too dissimilar a putt for Rose to make par – but he misses it!
He’ll move to down to -1 and that’s three dropped shots in a row if you count the final two from yesterday.
Rose, Koepka and Speith have teed off for the day.
All three players slightly off with their tee shots but they’re all salvageable.
Three-time runner-up Justin Rose would be a popular champion!
Elsewhere, Clark settles for par on the seventh, so he stays two behind.
Leaderboard: -5 McIlroy (18:44), Burns (17:32); -3 Reed (18:08), Day (17:56), Kitayama (17:03), Clark (6); -2 Scheffler (15:19), Rose (14:55), Lowry (17:56), Schauffele (18:20)
Not the best of days for Willett or Nicolai Hojgaard, who are both on +6 after their first few holes.
Samuel Stevens has completed the front nine, and he’s on +2 for now.
JJ Spaun and Tyrell Hatton are now underway too, with both taking pars on the first hole of the day.
Ryder Cup winners Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg are underway on day two!
Elsewhere, Englishman Aaron Rai has moved to two-under after a birdie within his opening two holes.
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