Scheffler three back

Scottie Scheffler walked off Augusta National on Thursday at 2-under 70, which left him three shots behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns at 5-under 67 after the first round of the 2026 Masters. That is not a chase that scares anyone at Augusta, because one eagle on a par-5 or one crooked number on the back nine can erase three shots in less than an hour on this course. Scheffler made his move almost immediately with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, and Yahoo’s live coverage said he also drove the green at the par-4 third and turned that into a birdie. By late afternoon he was still only three back even after missing birdie chances coming home, which is the kind of round that keeps a favorite in the middle of the story instead of forcing him to play catch-up all weekend. The names in front of him explain why the board feels crowded rather than settled: McIlroy is the defending champion, Burns opened with an eagle plus four birdies, and Patrick Reed and Jason Day both finished at 3-under 69. Scheffler is also not some outsider trying to steal a week at Augusta National, because he already owns green jackets from 2022 and 2024 and arrived this year trying to win the Masters for the third time in five seasons. That history matters here because Augusta rewards players who already know where misses can survive and where a putt can run six feet past the hole, and Scheffler has spent seven Masters learning those lines. So the first-round picture is simple: McIlroy and Burns grabbed the lead at 67, Scheffler stayed close enough at 70, and a tournament that often turns on one hot nine holes is still sitting wide open after 18 holes.