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Both Reed and Fleetwood miss the green right at 11 and have short-sided themselves with the flag on the front right. But the Ryder Cup rivals both hole testy par putts to remain at -5 and -4 respectiely. Leader Board time.
-7: McIlroy (9)
-5: Rose (F), Reed (11)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (F), Reitan (14), Day (12), Fleetwood (11), Schauffele (10)
-3: Gotterup (F), Koepka (F), Griffin (F), Burns (13), Lowry (12)
Perhaps the biggest danger to McIlroy is the lurking Xander Schauffele. A two-time major winner in 2024, the Californian has been craftily plotting his way around Augusta National like a classy Grand National winner being held up at Aintree (the big race is tomorrow, folks!). But he’ll now be getting a mention from Peter O’Sullevan after making ground with birdies at 8 and 10. Still lots of fences to jump but Schauffele is just three off the pace and going nicely.
There are 22 debutants in this year’s Masters and all will have been reminded over and over that there hasn’t been a first-time winner of the event since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. In truth, it was pretty amazing that Zoeller won that green jacket 47 years ago. Basically, Ed Sneed absolutely threw it away with a trio of closing bogeys, his par putt on 18 hanging on the lip before he lost in a three-way playoff against Zoeller and Tom Watson. Check it out on YouTube. Anyway, back to this year and we have a debutant in the mix: Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan. A real bloomer in the last couple of years, the 28-year-old from Oslo has reeled of a hat-trick of birdies at 12, 13 and 14 to move into a tie for fourth at -4, just three back.
McIlroy drops to his knees as his lengthy birdie putt from just off the green at 8 tracks towards the hole but misses by a whisker left. He’d been rather all over the place on that hole so a par is fine. Tommy Fleetwood is certainly going in the right direction after following eagle at 8 with an 18-footer for birdie at 10. He’s up to tied fourth.
Rory’s drive at the par-5 8th finds sand down the right – a common destination. He plays out and then takes his hand off the club as he hits a draw towards the green with his third. He’s overcooked it long and left so has some work to do to make par on a hole he would have been looking to birdie. It’s just turned a little awkward. Would Rory shake your hand if you offered him the chance to finish on -7, the score he has now?
Datagolf produce live cutline probabilities. As we stand, these are the numbers being spat out.
+3 – 12.6%
+4 – 86.3%
+5 – 1.1%
Those already done for the day at +5: 2016 Masters winner Danny Willett, US Open champ J.J. Spaun and England’s Harry Hall. Nicolai Hojgaard (+6) and Robert MacIntyre (+7) definitely won’t be around for the weekend.
Rory McIlroy leads the Masters but there are a few troubling signs creeping in. He’s hit a couple of poor wedges in the last three holes and his unconvincing waft at 7 – which leaves his scratching the back of his head – lands him in a bunker. Thankfully, his short game has no interest in a bogey so he splashes out for a tap-in par to stay two clear of fellow major winners Rose, Day and Reed. Day has joined the -5s after birdies at 8 and 9.
The hottest man on the course is China’s Haotong Li whose scorecard now looks like Sungjae Im’s shirt. A run of birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie from 13 to 16 has taken Li to -4 and into a tie for sixth. We shouldn’t be surprised to see him on a major leaderboard though. The 30-year-old finished solo third in the 2017 Open Championship after closing with a 63 while he was tied fourth at Royal Portrush last summer. Up at 18 Scheffler’s birdie try drifts right so it’s a round of 2-over 74. Disappointing. In fact, it’s his second highest score in 26 laps of Augusta National and he walks off to sign his card in a tie for 22nd place.
McIlroy looks puzzled as his 12-footer at 6 starts left and drifts even more left. But no such bemusement for Tommy Fleetwood at 8 as he smashes his second onto the green and drains a 19-foot putt for eagle. That vaults him from -1 to -3 and into the top 10. And, of course, it’s more crystal for the mantlepiece. Jack Nicklaus is inundated with the stuff after making 24 eagles in his Masters career. I wonder what he’s done with it all. Special trophy cabinet? Donated it to quiz shows?
As McIlroy hits his 9-iron at the steep downhill par-3 6th – a hole that TV flattens out ridiculously – let’s pause for a leaderboard update. Here is your top 12. McIlroy hit an excellent tee shot by the way and has a 12 footer for birdie.
-7: McIlroy (5)
-5: Rose (F), Burns (10)
-4: Clark (F), Hatton (F), Li (16), Day (8), Reed (7)
-3: Gotterup (F), Koepka (F), Griffin (17), Lowry (8)
So what of Scheffler at 15? It was a case, literally, of rinse and repeat. As at 13, he found water with his second and, once more, failed to retrieve the damage and took bogey. A pair of 6s on the two second-nine par 5s is basically a four-shot swing. Scheffler, as he’s been for the last two events, is now outside the top 20 and seven off McIlroy’s lead. Better news for the 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm. Sort of. A 78 in round one just about killed his chances but he’s here for the weekend at least after responding with a 2-under 70. That’s a massive 11 back.
Justin Rose shoots 69
Justin Rose has a treacherous downhiller at 18 after finding the top level. He’s not in Hatton country though and can tickle this one down the slope on a more conventional line. He does a great job of it and taps in the second putt for a 69 to add to his opening 70. With Rory giving one back at 5, Rose is just two behind and in the hunt yet again to try and win his first Masters.
In golf’s ‘Glass Half Empty’ Power Rankings, Tyrrell Hatton is clearly No 1. The Englishman is informed that’s he’s become just the third player in 30 years at The Masters to hit all 18 greens in regulation. But, no, why focus on that and a round of 66 when you’ve just bogeyed the last.
“I’m pretty disappointed standing here right now,” says Hatton. “I’d have loved to have at least made par on the last, but there was a lot of good golf today. Yeah, making seven birdies out there is not an easy thing to do.
“I definitely feel like the course played a little bit easier this morning. I guess they watered the greens quite a bit yesterday. It certainly was a tough afternoon in round one, but yeah, happy with how I played and hopefully I can play well this weekend.”
Asked what he’s learned over the last 10 years to be able to produce this level of golf, Hatton responds: “Well, clearly I haven’t learned enough with the three putt on the last, so I don’t know. I guess that this is my 10th time here and a lot of the tee shots I feel more comfortable on. The last few years I’ve driven the ball pretty well.
“You see today my own play was a lot better. I feel like I definitely struggled yesterday, but yeah, hopefully I keep hitting greens and it’ll be nice to see some putts go in. With a fast course and fast greens, it’s going to be a weekend where emotions are going to be running high.”
But Hatton knows the deal here, knows how his mind works and finds it hard to suppress a smile when asked how he’ll stay positive and patient for the weekend. “I don’t think me being positive and being patient mix very well, but I’ll try my best. See if I hit good golf shots, then that’s the best way to keep myself calm, so I’ll try to do that.” You’ve got to love that level of misery!
Last year’s 1-2 are currently this year’s 1-2. That’ll be Rory McIlroy (-8) and Justin Rose (-5). But what of the man who played alongside Rory in that momentous final round 12 months ago? Bryson DeChambeau briefly took the outright lead on Sunday in 2025 before stumbling but here he’s a whopping 12 shots back after shooting a 76 in round one and playing his first five holes today in even par.
Tyrrell Hatton shoots 66
It’s a frustrating three-putt bogey for Tyrrell Hatton at 18 but that’s still his best round at Augusta National by two shots. The 66 has lifted him into tied fourth which is currently three behind Rory McIlroy. Wait… make that four shots as the defending champ pours in his 20 foot left-to-righter at 4 for a third straight birdie. What a start for the 2025 winner! He hits -8 and this is getting uncomfortable for the chasing pack.
Scottie Scheffler finds water again! This time he fires his 241-yard 3-iron second at the par-5 15th over the putting surface and, although there’s quite an expanse of grass behind that raised par 5 green, the attempted fade turns into a slinging double cross that bounds hard and fast down the slope and into the wet stuff. Deary me. These are not the mistakes we associate with the World No 1 in majors but he’s looked ‘off’ for the last few months and it’s catching up with him here.
The ideal start for any player at Augusta is to play the first three holes in -2. The opener is a tough par 4, the second is a par five reachable in two blows and the short par-4 third, though tricky, is a definite birdie chance if you’re in place to hit a delicate second. Rory McIlroy does just that, tapping in for his birdie at 3 to secure the desired 4-4-3 sequence. Last year’s winner leads the Masters by two shots!
Tyrrell Hatton hits his 18th green of the day! That’s a rare feat at Augusta National. Having said that, he’d bite your hand off for a par at the last after his approach stays up on the top shelf, meaning he’ll have one of those weird, Dali-type wonky putts where he might have to stand sideways to the hole.
Of the 11 players at the top of the leaderboard, seven are major winners. That’ll be McIlroy, Rose, Clark, Reed, Koepka, Lowry and Day. I quite like Day’s outfit today. Blue slacks, pale yellow shirt and visor. Very 80s Masters. I think he’s loaned his garish bird shirt to Sungjae Im for round two. You’re never going to win a major with an avian collage like that so it was a smart decision. That said, Im did shoot a 69 although he’s down in 32nd on the current Leader Board.
Rory’s back in front! Perhaps it was four feet but he puts a firm stroke on his putt at 2 and the birdie lifts him to -6 and one clear. Tyrrell Hatton’s birdie try at 17 from around 18 feet just lacks enough pace to hold its line so he taps in for par to stay at -5. The group at -5 now extends to three as Rose gets up and down impressively at 15 after airmailing his approach long while Burns sinks his birdie effort at 7.
-6: McIlroy (2)
-5: Hatton (17), Rose (15), Burns (7)
-4: Clark (F), Reed (4)
More par 5 action now and it’s contrasting news for Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. Scheffler goes for it in two at the 13th but pushes his approach enough for the ball to bound into Rae’s Creek. From there his short game can’t save the day so a ‘6’ is scribbled on a hole where he would have expected two shots better. He drops to -1 and four off the pace. Back at 2, Rory has to lay up but floats a masterful wedge onto the green which trickles back to three feet or so. It’s a slippery one but you’d fancy him to make it.
Patrick Reed has a short game to die for and a beautifully excuted chip up on to the elevated green at 3 leaves him with a short birdie putt. He rolls that one in at moves to -4, just a shot off the lead. As well as winning in 2018, he’s had four top 10s since so Reed loves this place. While he eyes another title challenge (he’s just made par at 4), 2023 winner Jon Rahm is battling to make the cut. He lays up on the 15th and can only make par, his fifth straight on the second nine. At +5 he remains on the wrong side of the cut line by a shot.
Thanks Scott. Tyrrell Hatton managed to break 70 just once in his first seven cracks at The Masters and seemed increasingly bamboozled by the place. A 68 in 2021 remains his best lap but a round of 69 in each of the last two editions has helped him claim ninth (2024) and 14th (2025). Now, in his 10th Masters, Hatton is tied for the lead and on course for a 65 if he can close with two pars.
Tyrrell Hatton does indeed make his birdie on 15. Then he sends his tee shot at 16 to six feet. In goes the putt, and this is turning into one of the all-time charges! Meanwhile Justin Rose can’t make his short birdie putt on 14. Birdie for Patrick Reed on 3. An opening par for Rory. And Sam Burns drops his first stroke of the day, the damage done by finding fairway sand at 5 from the tee. It’s all change at the top!
-5: Hatton (16), McIlroy (1)
-4: Clark (F), Rose (14), Burns (5), Reed (3)
-3: Koepka (14), Griffin (13), Lowry (4), Day (4)
… and with that, I’ll leave you in the company of David Tindall. Enjoy the rest of today’s golf. I’ll see you tomorrow for Moving Day!
You may recall Justin Rose and his caddie having a short conversation with each other on the 9th fairway. Now they’re railing at the patrons, who are faffing around while Rose is preparing to take aim at the 14th green. Some sharp words. Then an arrow from 153 yards to four feet. Shades of Rory bollocking the crowd then turning around to close the match out at Bethpage in the Ryder Cup. He’ll have a great look at birdie.
Back-to-back birdies for Brooks Koepka at 12 and 13. The five-time major winner is right in the mix now at -3. Meanwhile Tyrrell Hatton very nearly spins his approach back into the cup for eagle at 15; he’ll surely be tapping in for birdie that will move him to -4. And Tommy Fleetwood repairs the damage of an opening bogey with birdie at 2. He’s -1.
Here comes defending champion Rory McIlroy. He’s in the penultimate group today, and having waited so long to tee off, doesn’t hang about. He whistles his driver down the right-hand side of the fairway. Now then, here’s a nice list flashed up by Sky Sports of the lowest first rounds by defending champions. McIlroy’s is up there.
66: Jose Maria Olazabal (1995), Jordan Spieth (2016)
67: Cary Middlecoff (1956), Gary Player (1962), Jack Nicklaus (1976), Rory McIlroy (2026)
A well-worked-out par for Scottie Scheffler on 11. Having sent his drive tight to the trees on the left, he doesn’t take on the green – or the pond to the left - with his second. He lays up front right, and backs his short game. He wedges to three feet, and tidies up to remain at -2. Then he finds the heart of 12 with his tee shot. Looks like the two-time winner has navigated the worst of Amen Corner adroitly.
Sam Burns makes his par putt on 4! It’s a downhill 20-footer, with plenty of left-to-right swing … but he judges it perfectly! The ball drops and the extra spring in his step is obvious. He clings onto a share of the lead. But there’s no such luck for Bryson DeChambeau back on 1. His putt never looks like dropping, and that’s an unwelcome backwards step for a player with little room for error after yesterday’s underwhelming 76. He’s +5.
-5: Burns (4), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (12)
-3: Hatton (14), Lowry (2), Day (2), Reed (1)
Sam Burns finds the bunker at the front of the par-three 4th. He whips out, hoping to use the slope across the green to bring his ball back close. But he goes too far, missing the tilt, his ball finishing up 20 feet past. Meanwhile there’s similar trouble afoot for Bryson DeChambeau, whose opening drive found a fairway bunker. Unable to reach the green with his second, he wedges his from 50 yards … 20 feet past the flag. A couple of big putts coming up.
Harry Hall is making his first start at the Masters, and the 28-year-old Englishman is desperate to hang around for the weekend. He’s just carded four birdies on the bounce, at 11, 12, 13 and 14, to bring himself all the way up the standings to +3. Plenty of story still to be told there, but at least he’s put himself back in position. The record for most consecutive birdies, since you didn’t ask, is seven, tied by Steve Pate (1999) and Tiger (2005). Johnny Miller (1975), Mark Calcavecchia (1992), David Toms (1998) and Tony Finau (2018) managed six.
Justin Rose fails to take advantage of his lucky break at 12. He putts up from the fringe, but overcooks it, the ball rolling six feet past, and the putt coming back kinks off to the left. That’s put a stop to his runaway momentum, though had his tee shot nestled in the flower bed, it could have been much worse.
-5: Burns (3), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (12)
-3: Hatton (13), Lowry (1), Day (1), Reed (1)
The 2016 champion Danny Willett comes back in 33, with birdies at 13, 15 and 16. That’s a brave attempt to make the cut, having gone out in 40, all looking lost. But at +5 he might find himself a shot or two shy. It’s currently projected at +3. Then again, the course is only going to get harder and faster, so that cut may well move out. He’ll not be packing his bags quite yet.
Justin Rose makes his birdie putt at 11 to snatch a share of the lead. Then he pulls his tee shot at 12. The ball’s heading towards the bank of azaleas at the back left … but as it bounds towards trouble, caroms off a rake sitting by the bunker and back onto the fringe! When your luck’s in, it’s in. That’s a huge break. Meanwhile Scottie Scheffler makes his birdie at 10 as expected, while Shane Lowry opens with one at Tea Olive. It’s all happening!
-5: Rose (11), Burns (2), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F)
-3: Hatton (13), Lowry (1), Day (1), Reed
-2: Gotterup (12), Griffin (10), Scheffler (10), Kitayama (4), Schauffele
Chris Gotterup is making his Masters debut this week. If his Open Championship debut is anything to go by, field watch out. Gotterup finished third at Portrush, a week after winning the Scottish Open. He’s since added Tour wins in Hawaii and at the Phoenix Open, and is a hipsters’ choice for a dark-horse victory this week. Perhaps the only thing going against him is the fact that only Horton Smith (1934), Gene Sarazen (1935) and Fuzzy Zoeller (1979) have won the Masters on debut. But here we are, and he clips his tee shot at 12 to six feet, making the putt to move to join the group at -2.
Justin Rose is in the zone all right. He fires another dart, this time at 11, from 193 yards to four feet. Scottie Scheffler, a couple of groups behind on 10, replicates Rose’s approach of a few minutes earlier. He’ll have a great look at birdie from five feet, and despite his travails of the morning, could soon be just three shots off the lead!
Tyrrell Hatton aims his tee shot at 12 straight at the flag. Eight feet shy. In goes the putt, and like his compatriot Rose, he’s in the zone right now. A third English champion, to follow in the footsteps of Nick Faldo and Danny Willett, is a very real possibility. Meanwhile par for Scottie Scheffler at 9, and the world number one turns in 37. He’s -1. Tell you what, there’s some talent grouped at the top of the Leader Board!
-5: Burns (1), McIlroy
-4: Clark (F), Rose (10)
-3: Hatton (12), Kitayama (3), Day, Reed
-2: Griffin (9), Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Scott (15), Gotterup (11), Spieth (10), Koepka (10), Scheffler (9), English (8), Reitan (3), Taylor (1), Fleetwood
Jordan Spieth has been leaving a few putts short today. He does so again, never giving his straight 10-footer at 10 a chance. Just the par. Brooks Koepka is much happier with his par, getting up and down from the bottom of the swale and gently rabbit-punching the air by way of restrained celebration. They’re both -1 … but Justin Rose cleans up to move to -4. He’s on a roll now. Worth waiting for!
Wyndham Clark shoots 68
A par up the last, and the 2023 US Open champion smiles warmly at a job well done. A fist bump with his caddie. He’ll be in a good position at the start of Moving Day, whatever happens from here on in.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (F)
-3: Rose (9), Kitayama (3), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (11), Gotterup (10), Griffin (9), Lowry, Schauffele
From 164 yards on 10, Jordan Spieth lands his approach pin high. He’ll have a ten-footer across the green for par. One of the shots of the day. But that’s soon superseded by Justin Rose, who from 158 bounces his straight at the flag, the ball stopping three feet short. Brooks Koepka, the third member of the group and the closest in, lands his wedge from 142 yards onto the front of the green … but the slope takes the ball all the way back off it and down the swale front left. He’ll find himself short-sided from there.
Scottie Scheffler appears to have made his 18-foot eagle putt across 8 … but the ball slides off to the right on its final turn. Scheffler cocks his head back in irritation, yelping before tidying up for his birdie. At least he’s moving back in the right direction: he’s -1. BobMac meanwhile negotiates his way out from the trees down the left with a clever shot, wedging in high and using the contours of the green to bring him in to 15 feet. But having been given a read by Scheffler, he’s learned nowt: the ball dies to the right and that’s just par. He’d have probably taken that when watching that driver from the deck carve into deep trouble, but here we are now. He remains at +7.
Justin Rose makes no mistake with his birdie putt on 9. That’s two in three holes – it should really have been three in a row – but turning in 35 is a decent return after a sluggish start. He’s -3. Jordan Spieth manages to get up and down from the front of the green to scramble a fine par; he’s turning in 35 too, at -1. But Brooks Koepka can’t get up and down from the back, and that’s bogey. He completes the set of players turning in 35, and he’s -1 overall too.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (17)
-3: Rose (9), Kitayama (2), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (10), Gotterup (9), Griffin (8), Lowry, Schauffele
Robert MacIntyre and Scottie Scheffler both take their frustrations out on their ball, blootering with great feeling from the centre of the 8th fairway. MacIntyre carves a driver off the deck into the trees down the left; Scheffler however lashes a fairway wood into the heart of the bowl-like green, from 277 yards to 18 feet, and he’ll have a good look for eagle!
Justin Rose has been trying to keep a lid on his frustrations all day. But he’s clearly on a rolling boil. Having missed a short birdie effort on 8, he has a full and frank exchange with his caddie over distances from the middle of the 9th fairway. Caddie stands his ground. Rose then clips his wedge from 141 yards to ten feet, and has the good grace to flash his looper a cheeky smile. Especially as Brooks Koepka then air-mails the green, while Jordan Spieth spins off the false front and back down the fairway.
Hats off to Bob MacIntyre. The 29-year-old from Oban effed, jeffed and toddler-tantied his way to an 80 yesterday, then opened this round with a fidgety double bogey. At +10, all looked lost. But he’s making a good fist of a comeback: birdies at 3 and 4, and now a long birdie putt across 7. He’s +7, in credit for his round today, and if he can pick up another couple of shots coming home, you never know. Either way, he’ll chalk this one up for experience.
Wyndham Clark makes his birdie putt on 16. He’s now four under for his round today, as is the aforementioned Tyrrell Hatton. Im Sung-jae had also reached that mark, only to bogey 18 to finish with a three-under 69. He’s the very early clubhouse leader at +1.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-4: Clark (16)
-3: Kitayama (1), Day, Reed
-2: Hatton (9), Rose (8), Koepka (8), Lowry, Schauffele
Wyndham Clark has been quiet since that birdie-birdie-birdie sequence early doors. But he’s sensationally sprung back into life. Birdie at 15, and we’ll update the Leader Board in a moment, because he’s just sent his tee shot at 16 to six feet. But for now, he’s -3. Meanwhile Tyrrell Hatton birdies 9, and he’s out in a flawless 32. He’s had a couple of birdie putts shave the hole, as well; so close to a front nine for the ages. It’s pretty good as it stands, to be fair. Hatton is -2.
Freddie Couples proves that lightning never strikes twice. In 1992 he famously did this en route to glory …
… but today the old champ’s tee shot at 12 topples back into the drink. Such a shame, as the 66-year-old living legend is currently hovering around the projected cut mark, just outside it at +5. He found the water twice at 15 yesterday, and now this. Expensive mistakes that will probably cost him weekend participation.
Brandon Holtz is 39, the current US Mid-Amateur champion, and currently 3,262nd in the world amateur golf rankings. He shot 81 yesterday, and going into his round today at +9, is almost certainly not going to make the cut for the weekend. And he’s having the time of his life. You’ll enjoy this piece by Andy Bull.
Quite a few players grouped on the shoulder of the leading pack. Still nearly two hours until Rory turns up for work.
-5: Burns, McIlroy
-3: Kitayama, Day, Reed
-2: Clark (14), Rose (7), Lowry, Schauffele
-1: Rai (9), Hatton (8), Gotterup (7), Spieth (7), Koepka (7), Griffin (6), English (4), Li (4), Homa (3), Taylor, Fleetwood
Justin Rose hadn’t made a birdie since 15 yesterday. He’s had his close shaves and frustrations today, but just about kept a lid on it, and his patience has finally paid off. He rolls in a birdie putt from downtown at 7, and returns to -2. Meanwhile Jordan Spieth salvages par with a ten-footer, remaining at -1, but the third member of the group, Brooks Koepka, having sent his approach from the centre of the fairway into a bunker, can’t get up and down and drops his second stroke of the day. He’s back to -1.
Another bogey for Scottie Scheffler. He nearly pulls his approach at 5 into a bunker. It stops atop the shoulder, but then his chip from the fringe is woefully short. He can’t salvage the situation, a putt from six feet dying on the low side, and the two-time champion drops back to level par.
English (US) · 
French (CA) · 
French (FR) ·