The Northern Irish golfer shot a five-under-par 67 on Thursday (09.04.26) to earn a share of the lead with American Sam Burns but claims that the prospect of becoming just the fourth player to win back-to-back Green Jackets isn't on his mind.

McIlroy told Sky Sports: "It's a great start, but there's a long way to go. I'm right in the tournament and it's a lot better than starting from seven behind going into the second round, like I was last year. Can't get ahead of myself, but feeling good with where I'm at.

"I think I swung freely. Even when I was missing tee shots on the front nine, I still kept swinging. I didn't start to get tentative. I kept swinging away just hoping that sooner or later I'd find, and I did.

"I started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole, and from then on I played some really good golf."

McIlroy ended his long wait for Augusta glory with a dramatic victory to complete the career Grand Slam last year but explained how he still felt familiar nerves on the first tee.

The five-time major winner said: "I thought I would feel different [as defending champion] but then I put my tee in the ground and my ball on the tee on the first hole, and I felt the same nerves that I always feel.

"It's the first major of the year, you want to get off to a good start, so I'm glad that I felt that way.

"I think if I didn't feel that way, then something would be wrong. I feel like I settled into the round really nicely and really quickly."

McIlroy added: "Felt like I got a lot out of my round today. It started pretty scrappy. I was hitting out of the trees a little bit the first seven holes and then started to string some good swings together from the eighth hole onwards."