AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National Golf Club was an electric factory on Saturday afternoon, so much so that it felt like a Sunday.
Clutch shots.
Standing ovations.
And the roars. Oh, those roars.
Most of the big ones were for Rory McIlroy, who was bucking out of the gates, draining 3s like Steph Curry and nearly putting this 89th Masters to bed a day early. A late eagle gave McIlroy a commanding lead, putting the Northern Irishman on the precipice of becoming the sixth golfer to complete the career Grand Slam.
But Bryson DeChambeau wasn’t about to let the patrons coronate McIlroy just yet. Playing in the final pairing behind McIlroy, who fired his second straight 6-under 66, DeChambeau earned ample praise of his own, birdieing three of his last four holes, including a crowd-pumping birdie at the last for 69.
“You can get chills in your body,” DeChambeau said. “You just feel the euphoria.”
And the best part? They get to do it all again tomorrow.
That is the hope, at least.
There are other names still technically in it, but make no mistake, this is effectively now a two-horse race: The sentimental favorite versus golf’s greatest showman.
It’s not hard to guess who is who.
McIlroy, seven times in the top 10 at the Masters but never a champion, has scribbled into his yardage book a few reminders to not ride the wave of any momentum too long. He has no plans to look at his phone until Sunday night, and he’ll probably fall asleep again while watching Season 3 of “Bridgerton,” or digest a few more chapters of John Grisham’s “The Reckoning.”
DeChambeau doesn’t mind taking a few more bites of the crowd’s energy. He won’t be scared to dive into his phone – after his lengthy range session, of course – and it’ll be a James Bond movie, not some romance series, on his television.
There is, though, one noticeable commonality between the two titans. When it comes to firepower, no pair rakes better. To nobody’s surprise, DeChambeau leads the field in driving distance through three rounds, at an average of 330.3 yards per poke. McIlroy is right behind him, at 324.9 yards, more than 11 yards longer than the next best competitor.
A product of anxious energy, McIlroy even gained few extra miles per hour of clubhead speed while warming up on Saturday. He then blew 330-plus-yard drives over carry bunkers on each of the first two holes, starting birdie-eagle and 5 under through five.
His six straight 3s to start the round were a Masters first – and a feat so impressive that when reminded of that run in his presser, McIlroy blinked rapidly while shaking his head in disbelief.
Sure, McIlroy gave a couple back, at Nos. 8 and 10, but after flagging his second shot from 205 yards out at the par-5 15th and rolling in the 7-footer for eagle, McIlroy’s lead was four shots, five over DeChambeau. As he took the steps toward the nearby 16th tee box, McIlroy was showered with applause from the patrons, few of them in their seats and even fewer probably thinking anybody else still had a chance.
But DeChambeau wasn’t about to back down. Why should he? After all, he was the one who took down McIlroy last summer at Pinehurst, following McIlroy’s pair of short misses down the stretch with one of the most iconic shots in recent major history, a 55-yard bunker blast to 4 feet to set up the winning putt while McIlroy watched in agony from inside scoring.
McIlroy says, thankfully, he has a short memory.
DeChambeau, though, has a second U.S. Open trophy. And so, when he birdied Nos. 15 and 16 to reel McIlroy back in and cut the ...
