History-making might not be Rory McIlroy's 2026 Masters motivation - but patrons clearly want to see back-to-back wins

‘No, that certainly wasn't at the forefront of my mind when I started,’ was Rory McIlroy’s response when asked whether securing back-to-back green jackets was a motivating factor before beginning his Masters title defence.

Only three players in 89 years have achieved that historical feat, with Tiger Woods the last to do so in 2002.

But while creating more history might not be at the forefront of the grand-slam winner’s mind, it doesn’t mean that others aren’t thinking about it.

‘Back-to-back, Rory!’ was one patron’s response as the reigning champion set himself up for an unlikely birdie on 13 on Thursday, after find the pine needles following another one of his humongous drives.

‘Two in a row, Rors’ bellowed another fan impressed with the 36-year-old’s birdie response after finding yet more obstacles to overcome on the 15th.

By that stage on Thursday, after nearly four-and-a-half hours in the baking sunshine, all of the 2026 Masters’ 91 starters had either completed their rounds or were in the process of doing so.

Home favourite and two-times winner Scottie Scheffler had also embarked on his first round and was still negotiating his way around the front nine as McIlroy closed in on home and an opening round of 67.

However, a quick glance around those lining the fairways watching the Ulsterman sit top of the leaderboard made you question just who was watching the world number one?

Approximately, 35,000-40,000 are welcomed through the gates each day at Augusta National during Masters week. Yet a sizeable number were glued to McIlroy, watching every shot made.

The Holywood man has always attracted large crowds whenever he sets foot on Augusta National grass. His popularity with the Masters patrons is well documented. You’d be hard pushed to find anyone who doesn’t respect everything about the Northern Irishman.

Yet this was unprecedented on day one.

It didn’t match the throng of people that walked alongside him on Masters Sunday last year, when he ended his 17-year pursuit of a green jacket.

Traditional, best-placed viewing spots on holes were often already occupied that day. And anyone who claims they actually set eyes on his winning putt on 18 in his play-off victory over Justin Rose are either being economical with the truth or had sat patiently there for hours beforehand to catch a glimpse of the historic moment.

Yet Thursday wasn’t far off it as crowd-pleaser McIlroy served up the joint-best round of the day to put down a marker for those desperate to steal his thunder.

A further indication of his approval ratings was the sheer number of patrons who then headed straight for the exit, happy with everything they had seen and with more than two hours of daylight still to be had in Georgia - including Scheffler’s back nine.

Becoming only the fourth player in Masters history to claim consecutive wins might not have been McIlroy’s motivation when he began his title defence at 10.31am (3.31pm BST) on Thursday.

However, watching history be made was certainly on the agenda of patrons. And it’s a movement that will carry huge momentum the longer the Ulsterman remains in the hunt this week at Augusta National.