Rory McIlroy’s Masters rollercoaster continued as a six-shot lead disappeared during the third round. McIlroy’s one-over-par 73 opened the door for his rivals.
He will go out in the final group level on 11 under with American Cameron Young. A dozen players are within six shots of the leaders.
McIlroy’s Juddering Round
Many predicted a procession for the defending champion going into Saturday’s third round. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy saw his commanding lead evaporate during a dramatic day.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy, the quality of the chasing pack is obvious,” McIlroy said. “I would have wanted to be in a better position going into [Sunday, having] started out with a six-shot lead, but I’ve still got a great chance.
“I’m in the final group and that’s where you want to be.”
The Masters Leaderboard
The Masters round three leaderboard:
- -11 C Young (US), R McIlroy (NI)
- -10 S Burns (US)
- -9 S Lowry (Ire)
- -8 J Day (Aus), J Rose (Eng)
- -7 S Scheffler (US), L Haotong (Chn)
- -6 P Cantlay (US), P Reed (US)
- -4 T Hatton (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng)
McIlroy’s Struggles Off the Tee
During his first two rounds this week, he played with the greater mental freedom which he predicted reaching his golfing Everest would provide. The five-time major champion showed patience to take control of the leaderboard, even though he was not playing as well as the scoreboard suggested.
The ability to recover from wayward driving was the key to McIlroy’s success, staying calm in the pressure moments to play sensibly when required before attacking when the chances arose. On Saturday, his swing continued to stutter and this time his short game could not always ride to the rescue.
“I will go to the range and figure it out. I still have a great chance but if I am going to win I will have to play better,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy found eight of the 14 fairways in the third round – the same as he did on Friday when he shot a 65. On Thursday, he only hit five as he posted a 67.
Of those to make the halfway cut, he is bottom of the class in accuracy off the tee, and when you couple that with his poorer short game during round three, it’s easy.
Last year’s nerve-jangling play-off win over England’s Justin Rose was classic McIlroy at the Masters – a rollercoaster ride where his bid for the career Grand Slam threatened to derail once again.
On Sunday, McIlroy is aiming to become only the fourth man to win successive Masters titles.