Rory McIlroy arrived at Augusta National on Thursday carrying the weight of a defending champion — and left Round 1 of the 2026 Masters tied for the lead with someone with unfinished business when it comes to beating him. Sam Burns, the 29-year-old Louisiana native ranked No. 33 in the world, matched McIlroy shot for shot to card a 5-under 67 at Augusta, the best round of his career there, and share the first-round lead heading into Friday’s second round.
McIlroy is attempting to become just the fourth golfer in history to win back-to-back Masters titles, a feat last accomplished by Tiger Woods in 2001–02. He acknowledged afterward that his scorecard looked better than he did. He scraped through the trees for the first seven holes before stringing together five birdies in an eight-hole stretch to get to 5-under.
But the man sharing his spotlight has his own history of doing exactly the same thing — and doing it against McIlroy personally.
A Rivalry With Teeth: McIlroy and Burns Have Been Here Before
Burns and McIlroy don’t just share a leaderboard. They’ve shared some of the most charged moments in recent golf. At the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, McIlroy, fueled by a parking-lot confrontation with a U.S. caddie the night before, came out Sunday and dispatched Burns 3&1 in singles, capping a tournament-best 4-1-0 record.
Their relationship is cordial. It was Burns who raised his hand to silence the crowd before McIlroy’s shots during Ryder Cup four-balls. But the competitive rivalry between them is the real deal.
The 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship sharpened that edge further, as reported in a BBC account. McIlroy collapsed against Cameron Young in the semis, blowing a two-up lead with three to play. Burns, meanwhile, outlasted world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a three-hole playoff in the other semi, then rolled through Young 6&5 in the final for his fifth PGA Tour title. McIlroy recovered to beat Scheffler in the third-place match, but Burns was the one who left Texas with the trophy and a reputation as world-class finisher.
Who Is Sam Burns? The Contender Now Chasing a Green Jacket
Burns grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, was the AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2014, and earned first-team All-American honors playing college golf at LSU. He turned pro in 2019 and has accumulated five PGA Tour wins.
His major trophy case sits empty, however. His best finish at a major remains a tie for seventh at the 2025 U.S. Open, where he held the 54-hole lead before a final-round 78 ended his run. Thursday at Augusta, he birdied three holes in a four-hole stretch on the back nine, made a 20-foot putt for birdie at 12 and converted from 11 feet at 13. In his corner throughout has been veteran caddie Travis Perkins, a steadying presence who has worked with Burns throughout his professional career and is known for being a calming, technically astute influence inside the ropes.
As Robby Kalland of CBS Sports reported, CBS Sports, the only other time McIlroy held the Round 1 lead at Augusta was 2011. That was the year he infamously came apart on Sunday.
The pre-tournament consensus around McIlroy looks considerably more complicated now that Burns is standing right beside him, commentator Jay Mariotti wrote on Thursday.
For Round 2 on Friday, Burns teed off at 12:27 p.m. ET alongside Cameron Smith and Jake Knapp. McIlroy goes in the next-to-last group at 1:44 p.m. ET alongside Cameron Young and amateur Mason Howell. Two strokes back at 3-under sit Kurt Kitayama, Jason Day and Patrick Reed. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is lurking at 2-under alongside Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry. The green jacket remains in the distance. But right now, the most interesting storyline at Augusta isn’t about distance or driving accuracy. It’s about two men with unfinished business and a shared number. 67.
Rory McIlroy Leads Masters — But His Co-Leader Has Unfinished Business