April 9 (UPI) — Sam Burns and Rory McIlroy fired matching 67s through their first 18 holes of the 2026 Masters to share the first-round lead Thursday in Augusta, Ga.

Burns was the first player to card his 5-under at the 90th edition of the tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. He holed an eagle, in addition to four birdies and a bogey. McIlroy, the defending champion and No. 2 golfer in the world, later holed six birdies and a bogey en route to his 67.

“Great start to the week, obviously,” McIlroy told reporters. “I felt like I got a lot out of my run today. It started pretty scrappy. I was hitting out of the trees a little bit the first seven holes, then started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole onwards.

“I played those last 11 at 5-under. I settled into the round nicely, even when I wasn’t hitting fairways.”

Burns, the No. 33 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, missed the cut at two of the last four editions of the Masters. He tied for 46th in 2025, when he fired a first-round 73. Thursday’s 67 was his best career round at Augusta.

Burns is still looking for his first major title. He tied for seventh at the 2025 U.S. Open for his best finish at a major.

“I think historically people who have success here play the par-5s really well, and we were able to do that today,” Burns said. “So it’s a good recipe around this golf course.”

McIlroy is attempting to become the fourth golfer to win back-to-back Masters titles. He said that task wasn’t in his mind during his opening round of the 90th Masters.

“Obviously, it would be nice,” McIlroy said. “But no, that certainly wasn’t at the forefront of my mind when I started 2026.”

No. 23 Patrick Reed, No. 34 Kurt Kitayama and No. 41 Jason Day are tied for third at 3-under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the tournament favorite, No. 9 Justin Rose, No. 10 Xander Schauffele and No. 32 Shane Lowry are tied for sixth at 2-under.

No. 4 Tommy Fleetwood fired a 1-under 71. No. 6 Matthew Fitzpatrick and No. 7 Collin Morikawa each turned in 2-over-74s.

No. 45 Samuel Stevens and No. 71 Sungjae Im will tee off in Group 1 at 7:40 a.m. EDT Friday to start the second round. Scheffler, No. 8 Robert MacIntyre and No. 52 Gary Woodland will tee off at 10:19 a.m. Burns, No. 222 Cameron Smith and No. 42 Jake Knapp have a 12:32 p.m. tee time. McIlroy, No. 3 Cameron Young and amateur Mason Howell will tee off at 1:44 p.m.

Players who own the Top 50 scores and ties after the second round will advance to the final two rounds of the Masters.

Second-round Masters coverage will air from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday on Prime Video and from 3 to 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Additional coverage is available on the ESPN App, Masters.com, the Masters app, CBS Sports Network, CBSSports.com and Paramount+.