On the week where Tiger Woods can’t be with us, Rory McIlroy has produced a performance of that level thus far as a jaw dropping closing four birdies gave him the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history of six shots, and left him on the cusp of becoming the first player to win back to back Green Jacket’s since Tiger in 2002.
McIlroy came home in a blistering 31 with six birdies in his last seven holes for a 65 and a twelve-under total with just 24 putts. It seems like he is already on the winning score and with room to spare. The key has been the par fives, he is seven-under for those eight holes despite not hitting a fairway on 2, 8, 13 and 15 today.
The Holywood man spoke of keeping his aggression despite not having his best stuff on Thursday and it was only a matter of time before he burst into life and produced a style of golf that was of his vintage during his prolific 2011-2014 era where he bullied the golf course and the field in to submission.
“I’ve always felt like this golf course can let you get on runs if you allow it. I talked last year about how I really won the tournament in a 14-hole stretch, the second nine on Friday and the first five holes on Saturday.
“Yeah, I knew I had some chances coming in when I was standing on the 12th tee, but I didn’t think I’d birdie 6 of the last 7. It just shows what you can do around here. Even if you might hit it in the trees on 13, on 15, and on 17 — 17 was obviously a bonus with the chip-in. But my wedge play today was really good. My short game the first two days has been amazing.
“I’ve spent a lot of time up here over the past three weeks. Even though I haven’t played tournament golf, I feel like being up here a lot and playing, I’ve prepared as well for this Masters as any other that I’ve played.
“I think all that work around the greens over the last three weeks has certainly paid off over the last two days.”
He threatened to pull away early on when he made three birdies in a row on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to get to 8-under. Needing a spark after dropped shots on 5 and 10 his prayers were answered on Amen Corner with a birdie on 12 and a wedge to kick in birdie distance on 13.
Then came the fun. A beautiful pitch to the 15th left him with a slippery six softer down the hill which he dribbled in before threatening a hole in one on 16. At this point he could do no wrong and a chip in birdie on 17 brought the house down and he put the icing on the cake with a closing birdie. It really was Tiger Woods level stuff.
“I think I’ve known that for a while. Even going back to my first year here in 2009, I shot 30 on the back nine on Sunday. So I’ve always had the ability to go on these runs.
“But I think it was getting to the point where I would allow myself to play the course the way that I knew that I could. So it was getting past myself. It was staying aggressive. Like my little mantra to myself today was keep swinging, keep swinging hard at it even if you’re not hitting fairways, just keep swinging.”
Over the years this golf course is sometimes — you know, my mindset hasn’t been keep swinging. It’s been guided, tentative. I think the experience I’ve accrued over the years and obviously with what happened last year, it makes it a bit easier out there to keep swinging.
Brooks Koepka once ridiculed McIlroy when he passed him out in the Major count. He was a little early in his jibe but he was right, there is no rivalry. Not when McIlroy is like this. He holds the largest 36 hole major lead from a defending champion since Koepka at the 2019 PGA Championship.
Perhaps the only negative note of the day is that a closing bogey from Patrick Reed (-6), who subpoenaed McIlroy one Christmas Eve, dropped him out of the final group which would have been a box office Saturday afternoon spectacle. But the task of looking across and trying to live with this behemoth version of Rory will fall to Sam Burns. Good luck.
The chasing pack are tightly bunched and they will all have to try and overhaul a gap of over four shots, something which hasn’t been done in each of the last fourteen Masters at this stage. Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood are seven back on five-under while Wyndham Clark, Tyrrell Hatton, Haotong Li and rookie Kristoffer Reitan are on four-under.
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