AUGUSTA, Ga. — This is the moment, right?
We’ve been here before. Plenty of times over the last 3,898 days, in fact. So it’s easy to doubt this is finally the time Rory McIlroy accomplishes the thing that’s been hanging over his career.
But after McIlroy's historic showing Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club that put him two shots ahead of the field entering the final day of play at the Masters, this has to be it. He may not ever get a better chance.
McIlroy posted a second straight 66 in the third round of the Masters on Saturday, which moved him to 12-under on the week and sent him into the final pairing with Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday with the green jacket on the line.
“I still have to remind myself that there’s a long way to go, just like I said yesterday,” he said. “Eighteen holes. I, just as much as anyone else, know what can happen on the final day here.”
McIlroy opened Saturday with two birdies and an eagle, which came off a chip-in on the par-5 second, to immediately jump into the lead after starting two shots back.
Eagle for the solo lead. #themasterspic.twitter.com/gzdEIgccma
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2025
By the time he reached the seventh hole, he had made six straight 3s — which is a Masters record.
“It was such a great way to start,” McIlroy said. “Just to come out of the blocks like that, I think, as well from finishing yesterday afternoon to teeing off today, it’s quite a long time. There’s a lot of anticipation and sort of anxious energy that builds up. You want to get out there and play.
‘So you know, with all of that to go out and start the way I did was amazing.”
McIlroy bounced back from a pair of bogeys on the back side, too, and stuck his approach at the par-5 15th — where he made one of his two double bogeys on Thursday — just six feet from the pin to set up another eagle. When that one fell, McIlroy’s lead had ballooned to four.
Eagle on No. 15 launches Rory McIlroy into a four-shot lead. #themasterspic.twitter.com/ri6fA5yO7O
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 12, 2025
But DeChambeau cut the lead back down to just two after he made three birdies in his last four holes, which got him into the last group with McIlroy.
“It’s going to be a little rowdy and a little loud,” McIlroy said of Sunday's final pairing, which is likely a bit of an understatement.
It’s not just the fact that McIlroy has a chance to avenge his loss to DeChambeau from Pinehurst last summer. But it’s what’s on the line for him when it comes to his ...
