04/10/26 07:45:00
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04/10 19:44 CDT Rory McIlroy pulls away with birdie binge and sets Masters
record with 6-shot lead at halfway mark
Rory McIlroy pulls away with birdie binge and sets Masters record with 6-shot
lead at halfway mark
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) --- The only thing that stopped Rory McIlroy in the Masters
was running out of holes to play Friday.
McIlroy stood on the 12th tee in a tie with Patrick Reed and with a dozen other
players bunched together in what was shaping up to be a compelling chase for
the green jacket.
Six birdies over his final seven holes for a 7-under 65 left everyone to wonder
if they were playing for second. McIlroy's fourth straight birdie to close out
the best round of the week gave him a six-shot advantage, setting the Masters
record for largest 36-hole lead.
"I knew I had some chances coming in when I was standing on the 12th tee, but I
didn't think I'd birdie six of the last seven," he said. "It just shows what
you can do around here."
He did it in spectacular fashion. McIlroy twice made birdie on the par 5s after
laying up from the trees. He twice had short putts on the par 3s. And if all
that wasn't enough, he chipped in from 30 yards up a slope so steep he couldn't
even see the hole.
The final hour of a fascinating day started to look like a victory lap for
McIlroy, who spent 17 years trying to win the Masters and now looks like he
can't wait to do it again.
His tee shot over Rae's Creek on the dangerous 12th hole landed 7 feet behind
the flag. He birdied both par 5s after having to lay up from the trees. He took
advantage of the lower pin at the par-3 16th for what amounted to a tap-in
birdie.
And then he really sent the gallery into a frenzy when he chipped in from 30
yards on the 17th. McIlroy knew it was good because "I could see everyone in
the grandstand start to stand up."
And there was one more to go --- another perfect approach that came down the
slope to 6 feet for one last birdie.
That put him at 12-under 132, six shots clear of Reed (69) and Sam Burns (71).
The previous record for the largest 36-hole lead at Augusta National was five
shots by six players, most recently Scottie Scheffler in 2022. The first was
Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper in 1936, the only player in that position who did not
win the Masters.
If McIlroy holds on, he would become the fourth player to win back-to-back at
the Masters, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.
He had a two-shot lead after 36 holes in 2011 and stretched it to four shots
going into the final round before he famously imploded with an 80. That was the
start of his Masters heartache that lasted until a year ago, when he triumphed
in a playoff to finally prove he could win at Augusta National.
Maybe he should start thinking about next year's menu for the Masters Club
dinner.
"I know what can happen around here, good and bad," McIlroy said with a smile.
"You don't have to remind me not to get ahead of myself. There's a long way to
go. I got off to an amazing start."
Augusta allowed for that. It was warmer, brighter, drier. The wind wasn't quite
as strong and the gusts didn't swirl as much. And there was much better scoring
in part because of more generous pin positions, including on 16 and 18, where
cleanly struck shots could feed toward the hole.
The scores were nearly two shots lower than Thursday.
That didn't help everyone, least of all Bryson DeChambeau. He fought back from
an opening 76 and was one shot below the cut line when it took him two shots to
get out of a greenside bunker on the 18th, the second shot rolling off the
false front back down to the fairway. He made triple bogey and missed the cut.
Reed was bogey-free until failing to save par on the final hole. That also cost
him a spot in the final group Saturday with McIlroy. They were paired together
in the last group in 2018, with seemingly all of Augusta on McIlroy's side,
only for Reed to win handily.
Burns birdied his last two holes to salvage a 71 and will be paired with
McIlroy.
Justin Rose, the playoff loser to McIlroy a year ago, had a rough day with the
putter and still shot 69 to be part of the group at 5-under 139 --- now seven
shots behind --- along with Shane Lowry (69) and Tommy Fleetwood, who had two
eagles in his round of 68.
McIlroy took three weeks off heading into the Masters --- no one since Adam
Scott in 2013 won the Masters coming off a break that long --- and felt it was
to his advantage.
He took multiple trips to Augusta --- sometimes day trips to get home for
dinner --- and spent most of his time working on his short game, which has been
superb.
"I felt like I was part of the furniture," McIlroy said of all his visits to
the course.
He also had a six-shot lead at the Congressional in the 2011 U.S. Open, the
major after he blew his big lead at the Masters, and he went on to win by
eight. He learned that week to push on instead of protect, the same approach he
plans for the weekend.
"Look, I've built up a nice cushion at this point," McIlroy said. "I guess my
mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas."
Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who has won two of the last four Masters,
is now 12 shots behind. Scheffler twice hit into the water on the par 5s on the
back nine, made bogey on both, and shot 74 for his first round over par at the
Masters in three years.
The players in what looked to be the B-flight had all finished before McIlroy
went on his astonishing run of birdies. Cameron Young and U.S. Amateur champion
Mason Howell had a front-row seat to McIlroy in full command at the Masters.
"You've got to stay in your own lane, but it's hard not to watch that," Howell
said after missing the cut. "That chip-in on 17 was unreal. That was one of the
coolest things I've seen in sports, and I got to witness it in person. So that
was awesome."
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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