Five Big Takeaways From The First Round At The Masters

The first round of the 2026 Masters Tournament is in the books.

The two stars of the show? Defending champion Rory McIlroy… and a very difficult Augusta National.

Here are my five biggest takeaways from Thursday at the Masters.

1. Rory McIlroy looks freed up and confident

The defending champion absolutely delivered in his first competitive round at Augusta since walking off the 18th green a year ago with the career Grand Slam. McIlroy had an uninspiring start, but he made five birdies from Nos. 8-15 to post a beautiful 5-under 67 to share the lead with Sam Burns.

McIlroy putted it very nicely, gaining 2.34 strokes on the greens along with a great performance with the irons. After some injury concerns at Bay Hill, I wasn’t overly high on McIlroy coming into Augusta with the weight of being the defending champion—but he looks to be in great form again and is now the odds-on favorite to get another green jacket.

2. When Augusta plays this tough, veterans rise to the top

Of the 16 players who finished under-par on Thursday, only three of them were under 30 years old—Burns, Scottie Scheffler and Jacob Bridgeman. Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world and Bridgeman has arguably been the top player early in 2026.

Experience seemed to rule again as Augusta played tough with a scoring average just below 75. The 36-year-old McIlroy led the way, with 38-year-old Jason Day (T3), 35-year-old Patrick Reed (T3), 39-year-old Shane Lowry (T6) and 45-year-old Justin Rose (T6) right behind him.

We also saw 45-year-old Adam Scott play well late to post even-par, along with a surprisingly solid round from 46-year-old Sergio Garcia, both of whom are defending champions. Even 66-year-old Fred Couples was having one of the rounds of the day before a disastrous finish.

Augusta is playing difficult and will likely only get tougher with no rain in the forecast. The veterans will likely benefit from that the most.

3. No need to worry, Scottie Scheffler is just fine

Scheffler is still the best in the world. It was a clinical day for the two-time Masters champion as he posted a 2-under 70 that could have easily been lower.

He started strong with an eagle on the second and then a two-putt birdie on the par-4 third hole. He didn’t make another birdie the rest of the day, but it wasn’t because of poor play.

Scheffler played his usual patient style of golf, hitting fairways and greens and making it look easy, while much of the field struggled late in the day under firm conditions. The putter never caught fire, but Scheffler sits beautifully on the leaderboard at T6, especially as an early tee time awaits him tomorrow.

McIlroy, Burns and Reed will go off later Friday when Augusta usually plays tougher.

4. Rahm, DeChambeau and LIV golfers as a whole were the biggest disappointments

Many people expected big things from Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau this week. The two LIV Golf stars have been in wonderful form this season and have had plenty of success at Augusta in recent years.

But they struggled mightily on Thursday, with Rahm posting a birdie-free 78 and DeChambeau a 76.

I still expect both to make the cut. Rahm had the third-worst putting day in the field, which surely won’t continue. DeChambeau was playing decently before needing three shots to get out of a greenside bunker on the 11th hole, leading to a triple bogey.

It was a tough day for LIV golfers, which could point to the naysayers, myself included, being right about a questionable lead-in schedule. All of them had two weeks off, and a birdie-fest in South Africa last time out wasn’t exactly the best prep for Augusta.

Of the 10 LIV players who teed up Thursday, nine of them shot over-par, with only Garcia managing a 72 to lead the way.

5. And watch out for a former LIV golfer…

Anyone who doesn’t follow golf storylines until the majors might believe that Reed is leading the way for LIV, but the DP World Tour points leader—yes, Reed is long gone from LIV—started hot in the first round of the Masters.

He held the early lead after a front-nine 31 before dropping a couple shots to shoot 69 and sit T3.

Reed has spoken on how much he’s enjoyed his schedule this year and extra time off after leaving LIV, and it seems to be paying off after the first round. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the 2018 champion be a factor on the weekend again after finishing 3rd last year.

What were your takeaways from day one at the Masters?

Let me know below in the comments.

Top Photo Caption: Rory McIlroy looked confident during round one at Augusta National. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)