The 2026 Masters got underway at Augusta National with the first round offering an early reminder that experience can still matter on golf’s biggest stage. Very early in the action, the leaderboard briefly belonged to one of the game’s most familiar figures: José María Olazábal.
Olazábal, who won the Masters in 1994 and 1999, made a strong start by rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole. He followed that by negotiating a tricky right-to-left putt on the third, a successful effort that took the 60-year-old Spaniard to the top of the leaderboard in the opening moments of the tournament.
At that point, he was not alone among the early players to find red figures. Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, also picked up a birdie at the second hole to move into the same position in the fledgling standings.
It was a brief snapshot of the tournament’s first round, and one that suggested the early pace at Augusta National would belong to the older guard before the heavier hitters arrived later in the day. As always at the Masters, the leaderboard in the opening stretch can change quickly, but the first signs came from two former champions with plenty of Augusta experience.
The opening day also carried a touch of historical symmetry for Jack Nicklaus, with the year ending in six marking the 60th and 40th anniversaries of two of his Masters victories. The event’s history, and the weight of past champions, once again formed part of the backdrop to the first round.
For now, though, the spotlight was on the early names near the top. Olazábal’s fast start and Cabrera’s birdie ensured that the first red numbers of the championship came from players who know the course well and who have already handled the pressure of winning at Augusta National.
The opening round was still at a very early stage, and the leaderboard was expected to keep moving as more of the field reached the course. But in the first moments of the 2026 Masters, it was the veterans who made the first statement.
Coverage of the tournament was set to continue as the big names made their way out onto the course, with the first round at Augusta National only just beginning to take shape.
