AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy is 18 holes away from golfing immortality.
The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the 89th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club after producing one of his best rounds in a major championship with a 6-under 66 on Saturday that moved him to 12 under after 54 holes.
McIlroy, the world No. 2, needs to win an elusive green jacket to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to complete the career Grand Slam in the Masters era.
It will be McIlroy’s 11th attempt at finishing the career Grand Slam, and this might be his best opportunity to do it.
“I think I still have to remind myself that there’s a long way to go, just like I said yesterday, 18 holes,” McIlroy said. “I, just as much as anyone else, know what can happen on the final day here.”
LIV Golf League captain Bryson DeChambeau is perhaps the biggest obstacle in his way. DeChambeau made a 48-foot putt from the fringe of the 18th green to get within two strokes of McIlroy. He made birdies on three of the last four holes to post a 3-under 69.
McIlroy and DeChambeau will tee off in the final pairing at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
It will be a rematch of their final-round duel in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. McIlroy missed two short putts in the final three holes, allowing DeChambeau to make a memorable shot from a bunker and par putt on the 72nd hole to win his second major, both coming in the U.S. Open.
“It will be the grandest stage that we’ve had in a long time, and I’m excited for it,” DeChambeau said. “We both want to win really, really badly. You know, shoot, there’s a lot of great players behind us, too. Got to be mindful of that and focus. It’s about who can control themselves and who can execute the golf shots the best.”
Canada’s Corey Conners was third at 8 under, and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed and Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg were tied for fourth at 6 under.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who struggled through an even-par 72 on Saturday, is among four golfers tied for sixth at 5 under.
After a birdie-eagle-birdie start erased his 2-stroke deficit and gave him the outright lead Saturday, McIlroy led by as many as four strokes on the first nine. But his unsteady play around the turn — he made bogeys on the par-5 eighth and par-4 10th — cut his advantage to one.
McIlroy took control of the season’s first major again with a birdie on the par-5 13th and a second eagle of the round on the par-5 15th. After blasting a 339-yard drive down the right side of the 15th fairway, McIlroy knocked his approach to 6 feet and sank the birdie putt to move to 12 under, four strokes in front of Conners and five ahead of Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and DeChambeau.
McIlroy might already have one arm in a sleeve of the green jacket if he hadn’t carded double bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17 in the first round. He finished the opening round at even-par 72 and trailed first-round leader Rose by seven strokes.
McIlroy rebounded to go 12 under in his past 36 holes. He is only the sixth golfer in Masters history to post consecutive 66s in the same tournament.
If McIlroy finishes the job Sunday, his seven-stroke deficit would tie the largest through 18 holes by a Masters winner. Nick Faldo (1990) and Woods (2005) also came back from that many.
“There’s obviously pressure, but he has pressure every single week,” said Jason Day, who is among those tied for sixth after a third-round 71. “He seemed very focused, determined to obviously accomplish that. It doesn’t look like he’s focusing on it, that’s the thing. I know it’s in the back of his mind, but I think he’s running off so much confidence, and he has so much belief in his game that it’s almost like he knows it’s going to happen. And when you’re playing like that, it’s very dangerous.”
McIlroy also will try to end a more than 10-year drought without a major championship victory. It is his 39th start in one of the big four since he last captured the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
McIlroy got off to a blistering start that has been rarely seen at the iconic course. In just three holes, he wiped out a two-shot deficit to Rose, making a 10-footer for birdie on No. 1, chipping in from 54 feet off the green for eagle on No. 2 and then rolling in another 7-footer for birdie on No. 3 to take the outright lead at 10 under.
He became just the sixth player in Masters history to go 4 under over the first three holes, according to ESPN Research.
“Yeah, obviously it was a dream start to get off to the start that I did,” he said.
McIlroy wasn’t done. After DeChambeau carded a bogey on the third, McIlroy made an easy par on the par-3 fourth to take a two-shot lead over DeChambeau and Rose.
McIlroy ripped a 342-yard drive down the par-4 fifth and knocked his approach to 8 feet. With another birdie, he was 11 under and three shots in front of DeChambeau and four in front of Rose and Lowry.
McIlroy made a 9-footer to save par on the par-3 sixth hole, becoming the first golfer in Masters history to start a round with six consecutive 3s on his scorecard. (He was also the first to do it with five straight.)
After driving his tee shot deep into the trees, McIlroy saved par on the seventh. But then, just like that, he seemed to lose momentum. His drive on the par-5 eighth landed in a fairway bunker. He was forced to lay up and knocked his approach to the back of the green. He chipped to 8 feet and missed. A bogey dropped him to 10 under.
McIlroy missed a 5-footer for birdie on the ninth and made the turn at 4-under 32. He was two strokes in front of DeChambeau and three in front of Rose and Conners.
On the 495-yard 10th, McIlroy’s second shot stopped 58 feet above the hole. He three-putted, missing an 8-footer for par. He fell to 9 under, only one ahead of DeChambeau and his playing partner, Conners, who made three straight birdies to move into a tie for second.
“I think when he plays his best golf, it’s hard to catch him,” Åberg said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of guys in this world that can catch him when he plays at his best.”
The good news for McIlroy: Each of his four previous major championship victories — in the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship and 2014 PGA Championship — came when he had the outright lead after 54 holes.
The only time he failed to convert while holding a 54-hole lead in a major occurred at the 2011 Masters. He had at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds and took a four-stroke cushion into the final 18 holes. The then-21-year-old McIlroy collapsed and posted an 8-over 80. He tied for 15th at 4 under, 10 strokes behind winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa.
Fourteen years later, McIlroy has a chance to finally exorcise those demons.
“You know, I’ve got a lot of experience,” he said. “I came in here talking about being the most complete version of myself as a golfer, and you know, I just have to keep reminding myself of that and remind myself that no matter what situation or scenario I find myself in tomorrow, I’ll be able to handle it.”