Familiarity leads to success for Rory McIlroy on the opening day of the Masters.

Much of the appeal and success of The Masters is based on the consistency and familiarity of the tournament.

You turn on the television and you see those familiar vibrant greens, sparkling water at 12, and pinks and creams of blooming plants. The course, traditions, and sandwich prices remain the same every year, regardless of tariffs, trade wars, or the Strait of Hormuz at Augusta.

But as far as consistency goes, last year’s winner, Rory McIlroy,

It might be a little too much to hold onto after going 5-5 in the first round of this year’s tournament.

Maybe time is just a flat circle and we’re stuck in a seamless loop of Masters Championships, unable to see where one ends and the next begins.

Or maybe, just maybe, he is one of the best golfers on earth, now experienced enough to navigate this green corner of North Georgia and know the course well, allowing him to capitalise on those historic heartbreaks and setbacks.

It’s probably important to note at this stage that Sam Burns is also there, with the young American shooting a superb 67 in just his fifth appearance here, with the best approach play of anyone at Augusta on Thursday.

But Burns is one of golf’s band of presuperstars. He joins the likes of Ludvig Aberg, Tom Kim, and Akshay Bhatia to finally win a major, and this could be Burns’ week yet—in this case, the biggest week of his life.

Just ask Rory. It’s about masters proving it. Any idea that McIlroy is Zen and at peace with the world and that he has completed a career slam is far from the truth. By his own admission, once he climbed to the top of the mountain, it showed him, “How many more peaks are there to conquer?”

Still, as he put his tee into the ground on the first hole today, the sun was setting, he noticed a familiar tremor. As he struggled to keep the ball above him, he knew. Those nerves were still there. Chances are they will never go away.

“It’s a good thing. That’s why we want to come here,” he said after a moment of trembling. “We want to be able to try to play our best golf when we’re feeling like that.”

It wasn’t an old start for McIlroy and he needed to grit his teeth and push through. He thought he played a round that was good enough for two under and instead leads the tournament at five under. The stats back up that he wasn’t at his best, barely in the top 100 for fairway accuracy.

“But again, I used my head… I got up and down when I needed to,” he explained. “I didn’t make mistakes. Again, it’s just a learning curve you have to go through here, and I did it well today.”

In his own words, McIlroy “kept swinging.” Despite seven holes of par, he picked up five shots over the final 11 holes to join Burns as the clubhouse leader, while Justin Rose, whom he beat in last year’s playoff, looked poised to join him until his scorecard was marred by a pair of late bogeys – eventually joining a group at -2, three strokes back. Shane Lowry and Xander Schoeffel.

All these players have positioned themselves well for Sunday night, but the advantage of achieving this first cannot be overlooked.

“I think winning the Masters makes it easier to win your second one. I do,” McIlroy added.

“It’s hard to say because you still feel tight with some shots, and you just have to stand up and commit to a good swing and not worry about where it goes.”

“But I think it’s easier for me to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know I can go back to the Champions locker room afterwards and put on my green jacket.”