If we felt the Rory McIlroy of 2026 was now beyond the concession of huge leads, then guilt ought to be pleaded to the charges of short memories and dopey thinking. From the impossibly large advantage of six strokes, the defending champion coughed up the lot to Cameron Young to tee up a final-round showdown we never expected at the Masters.
It remains to be seen if McIlroy can process the dramas that brought on such an unlikely scenario, but to avoid being reacquainted with old labels, he simply must. Tied on 11 under par with the exceptional American, it will be a formidable challenge if momentum comes into the equation.
A round of 73 was, by a distance, McIlroy’s worst of the week and littered with errors, the most savage of which coming in a chaotic rounding of Amen Corner.
We had wondered if he could sustain his excellent scoring with such wayward play from the tees and this was the day an answer presented itself. But if there was a glimmer of positivity, it comes from the knowledge that it might have been a tougher day – at one stage deep into the back nine, Young briefly led in his compilation of a stunning 65.
That is truly remarkable when you think he was eight back after 36 holes and four over through seven in his first round. The Masters never ceases to amaze.
Indeed, it might even be more than a two-horse race – Sam Burns is at 10 under and Shane Lowry, who aced the sixth, is only one further behind. Jason Day and Justin Rose lurk at eight under while some fella named Scottie Scheffler shot 65 and got to seven under. Could he?
Rory McIlroy had a day to forget as his six-shot lead was completely wiped out at the Masters
A round of 73 was, by a distance, McIlroy’s worst of the week and littered with errors
The reigning champion got into trouble at Amen Corner, where he found the water on the 11th
Quite how this magnificent tournament worked itself to such a state of barmy, brutal, topsy-turvy state of uncertainty is the tale of one of the greatest moving days in recent memory.
To understand it, we should start with the most salient point of all – when McIlroy went to bed on Friday night, he was sitting on the biggest 36-hole advantage in the history of the Masters. Young? At four under par, he looked buried.
Many of us, these pages included, can hold up a hand to the absurdities of what came next, which is to say a procession was predicted. A mauling. The kind of march to a second green jacket that would prove how McIlroy is different now. No monkey on his back, no impediments to success in his own brain, impervious to the Machiavellian genius of the course.
Fools, the lot of us.
And to chart that epiphany, we should go straight to 5pm local time, when McIlroy was making his way to the 10th green and still on his starting position of 12 under par.
By then there had been bedlam in the chasing pack and the leader was clinging on for dear life, having carded an even 36 for his front nine but only because he scrambled the hell out of dire causes. He was not playing well.
Others, especially Young, had been making hay and the American had just birdied 13 and 14 to sit one behind, seven under for his day. That was a problem. That was room for doubt in a mind prone to over-thinking.
Above all, it meant McIlroy needed something. Momentarily, he found it on that 10th hole – the one that killed him in 2011 had offered a birdie here, and suddenly he was at 13 under par and two in front again. But could he handle the circumstances? Would he succumb to the old, familiar feeling of constriction, with his playing partner, Burns, also on a charge and the nearby surges from Lowry, Day and Rose?
McIlroy was made to pay for his wayward driving and needed to move camera equipment
McIlroy is level with Cameron Young and had some of the world’s best breathing down his neck
Young briefly led in his compilation of a stunning 65 and will be in the final group on Sunday
McIlroy’s playing partner Sam Burns is in contention with Shane Lowry and Scottie Scheffler
Worrying answers started to follow, which takes us to the 11th hole, the entry of Amen corner and that fiendish 520-yard par four. Approaching the green with iron in hand, McIlroy succumbed to the same weakness of his entire round – he pulled it. The ball pitched on the front of the green and caught a hill that teetered above Rae’s Creek, kicking in motion one of those rolls of the damned.
With water found, McIlroy doubled the hole at precisely 5.25pm and precisely 10 minutes later Young, stepped onto the green of the par-three 16th and responded to his own bogey from the previous hole by draining a monstrous 27-footer. Astonishingly he was level. Astonishingly, he was not yet done.
Because just as that roar was making its way back down the course McIlroy botched the par-three 12th too. Dragging his approach, again to the left, he failed to get up and down. Now he was behind. What glorious theatre. What glorious sport. What a terrible, nasty sport. How very McIlroy.
Young would go on to complete his round with the relative serenity of two pars, signing for a quite wonderful 65 and 11 under overall. Scheffler also shot 65 to reach seven under and clearly the world No 1 isn’t out of it – not for the first time, we may have been daft with premature conclusions.
As for McIlroy, he was one behind. And didn’t look up to it. That was shown by a loose wedge to 20 feet at the 14th, but from nowhere came a putt that dropped for birdie. At 11 under he was tied; at the 15th he then hit the fairway on a par-five for the first time in 12 attempts. A birdie followed and just like that he was at 12 under and the pendulum had swung again.
All he needed was three good holes and the lead would be his. But that was too much to ask – he drove into the trees for the umpteenth time at the 17th, came out low and hot, and overshot the green. A bogey meant he will somehow start the final tied with Young and one clear of Burns.
It’s never straightforward with this guy.
