Masters 2026: Rory McIlroy atop leaderboard ... even without his best

AUGUSTA, Ga. — When Rory McIlroy went to put his tee in the ground on No. 1 for the first time Thursday as defending Masters champion, the familiar nervous shake in his hand showed up like clockwork.

It was a good thing to feel. After 52 weeks of conversation about completing his career Grand Slam, the weight it lifted off his shoulders and the occasional struggle to motivate himself for The Next Thing, McIlroy was hoping he’d have that familiar sensation of struggling to set his ball on the tee as he prepared to hit his first shot of the Masters. For a golfer, it’s almost like proof of life.

“I'm thankful that I felt the same as I always have,” he said. “I think it would be worrisome if I didn't feel that way because it definitely still means something to me. ” Year after year, McIlroy’s anxiety at Augusta National has been the dominant storyline of his relationship with this tournament — even last year when he had to overcome some mental disasters on Sunday to finally claim his green jacket.

It would be hard, if not impossible, to say definitively that McIlroy has come back here freed up from those demons. This is golf, after all. But if that were the case for McIlroy, it would probably manifest in a round like the one he played Thursday: All over the place off the tee but relentlessly committed to his shots, efficient around the greens and deadly on the par-5s where his length and experience gives him such a huge advantage.