Rory McIlroy finds himself in a familiar position at the Masters, embroiled in drama. His third round saw a commanding lead disappear, opening the door for his rivals.
McIlroy will go out in the final group on Sunday level with American Cameron Young. A dozen players are within six shots of the lead.
McIlroy’s Quest for a Second Green Jacket
McIlroy is aiming to become only the fourth man to win successive Masters titles. Last year’s nerve-jangling play-off win over England’s Justin Rose was classic McIlroy at the Masters.
Holding on and finally landing the Green Jacket provided McIlroy with a sense of liberation. During his first two rounds this week, he played with the greater mental freedom which he predicted reaching his golfing Everest would bring.
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 pressure moments to play sensibly when required before attacking when the chances arose.
Third Round Struggles at Augusta
On Saturday, McIlroy’s swing continued to stutter and this time his short game could not always ride to the rescue.
McIlroy said he will go to the range to figure things out. He believes he still has a great chance, but will have to play better if he is going to win.
- McIlroy found eight of the 14 fairways in the third round.
- He also found eight of 14 on Friday when he shot a 65.
- On Thursday, he only hit five fairways as he posted a 67.
Of those players to make the halfway cut, McIlroy is bottom of the class in accuracy off the tee. This, coupled with poorer irons later in round three, made things difficult.
Chasing Pack Ready to Pounce
McIlroy said he knew it wouldn’t be easy, given the quality of the chasing pack. He added that he would have wanted to be in a better position going into Sunday, having started out with a six-shot lead, but he still has a great chance.
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 is now aiming to become only the fourth man to win successive Masters titles.