A spectacular day of scoring at Augusta National did little to help Rory McIlroy’s hopes of hanging on to his six-shot overnight lead as his struggles off the tee limited his opportunities to “keep his foot on the gas” as promised.
However, his rivals all took advantage as the defending Masters champion reached the turn at level par for his round after a bogey at the first offset with a birdie at the third having driven the 350-yard par four.
It meant his advantage was cut to one, with Cameron Young, who was four over after seven holes on Thursday, getting to 11 under through 14 holes. Haotong Li and McIlroy’s good friend Shane Lowry were two back after he carded his second Masters hole-in-one to ignite his round.
There was also the looming shadow of two-time champion Scottie Scheffler five back after the world number one shot a Masters career-low 65 which threatened to equal the course record at one stage.
The American, out two-and-a-half hours before McIlroy’s final group, covered the front nine in 31 after eagling the second and reaching the turn with three successive birdies, which included nearly holing his approach to the ninth.
He birdied the 11th only for his round to stall as he failed to take advantage of the two par fives, eventually getting to seven under after hitting it to 10 feet at the short 16th.
A missed eight-footer at the next ended hopes of a course record but he produced a brilliant third to inches at the last to save par, having found himself having to hack out from under a tree.
“I gave myself a lot of opportunities and I felt like I took advantage of those on the front nine, and then back nine I did a lot of good things and was really, really close to seeing a lot go in,” said Scheffler, who may yet be left to rue Friday’s two-over 74.
“It definitely could have been lower but I did what I needed to do. I went out and executed to give myself some opportunities. More of that tomorrow and I think I’ll be in a good spot.”
Lowry has quite the collection of ones on his CV and this was his second at Augusta National.
The Irishman ignited his round by holing his 190-yard tee shot at the sixth, becoming the first man to have multiple Masters aces after recording his first at the 16th in the final round of 2016.
The Irishman has also aced the 17th at Sawgrass, in 2022, and the seventh at Pebble Beach, in January 2025, two of the most famous par threes in golf.
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