Rory McIlroy’s prayers were answered around Amen Corner as he revived his Grand Slam hopes at Augusta National.
A sensational run of birdie, birdie, par and a magnificent eagle from the pine straw on 13 catapulted McIlroy back into Masters contention and he righted the wrongs of the 15th on Thursday with a superb two-putt birdie.
McIlroy was flawless for 14 holes on Thursday but he managed to maintain his groove for the full 18 on Friday as he carded a bogey-free 66 to lie just two shots behind Justin Rose on six-under-par.
“I don’t think I proved anything. If anything, I just backed up the belief that I have in myself, and the belief that I’m as resilient as anyone else out here. You know, again, like I’ve been really proud of how resilient I’ve been the whole way throughout my career, and I think today was just another example of that,” said McIlroy who declined to speak to the media following his double bogeys on 15 and 17 last night.
“Once I left the property last night, I just sort of tried to leave what had happened here. I rushed out of here to get home to see Poppy before she went to bed. So that was sort of nice to get to see her before she went to sleep. I guess that’s something that I didn’t have a few years ago, to be able to get home and have that sort of, you know, take my mind off the golf a little bit.
“I feel like I just did a good job of resetting. I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straightaway. And you can sort of see how I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient.
“I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.”
After a gut wrenching finish to his opening round, McIlroy’s first move of round two was forward after a superb birdie on the par-5 2nd after sending his drive behind a tree.
There was nothing doing for the 35-year-old until two terrific approaches to the 10th and 11th set up much needed birdies before a clever two-putt par from over the back of the 12th green kept him on track.
McIlroy found the pinestraw on the par-5 13th and rather than lay up he took on the shot to the tight right pin. It seemed like his charge rested on this shot and he drilled a long iron to nine feet and sunk the eagle putt to draw a massive roar from the gallery.
“I think it was like 189 front. So it was — I don’t think it was really a decision to go for it or not, but it was — I was between a 4- and a 5-iron. And usually the ball comes out of it spinnier out of the pine straw. So I hit a 4-iron, and the follow-through, definitely I saved it, and I was glad that I hit 4-iron. I covered that little corner there.
“But yeah, when the ball was in the air, I was like, you idiot, what did you do? It’s one of those ones, as well, it’s a pin that even if you do hit it into the hazard, it’s a pretty — not a routine up-and-down, but it’s a little easier than, say, where the pin was yesterday in that front section.
“I rode my luck a little bit with that second shot, but was nice to take advantage of it.”
That was followed by another long iron to the front right of the 15th green and there were no disasters this time as he two putted to climb to six-under and give himself a chance of winning his first major in eleven years heading into the weekend.
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