AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy was walking and strutting toward the site of potential heartbreak, and he felt no fear. He made his way toward the exact water he chipped into 48 hours prior, toward the place, in years past, his tournament may have ended. His ball was still in the air, yet McIlroy just started to walk like the bouncy teenage Northern Irishman who first arrived on the scene earlier this century without a care in the world.
Two hundred and five yards from the pin. That water in front. A rock-hard green and a daunting downhill chip if you go long. The 15th hole at Augusta National can be the place of heroes and flops. But with a two-shot lead through 50 holes at the Masters, McIlroy sent it.
His high-arching 6-iron approach floated into the sky, and McIlroy seemed to already know right then and there that he could put a cherry on top of his dominant day. McIlroy landed the shot six feet from the pin for eagle.
That was it. If Rory McIlroy does win this Masters — he leads Bryson DeChambeau by two shots with 18 holes to go — that may be the lasting image. McIlroy walking toward the place of the aforementioned disaster and leaving it with the shot of the tournament.
McIlroy shot a 66 on Saturday to launch himself up the leaderboard, starting the day two shots behind and ending it two ahead. It comes the day after another 66 springboarded him from even par and eight behind, making it just the fourth pair of consecutive 66s in the last 40 years at the Masters. The other three were by Jordan Spieth (2015) and Tiger Woods (1997, 2005). All three ended with a green jacket.
When you remove McIlroy’s two Thursday double bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes, nobody is playing in the same tier as McIlroy this week. It’s been 52 holes of his greatest golf with the most pressure on him.
But he knew this was coming.
He woke up Saturday morning with a 2:30 p.m. tee time and time to spare. He watched some English Premier League soccer on TV. Then he watched the animated movie “Zootopia” with his daughter, Poppy, which he said is a “very, very good movie, if anybody is interested.” On the driving range, his caddie Harry Diamond had most of the range to choose from, but he put McIlroy’s bag directly next to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy’s swings were three or four miles per hour faster than normal.
So he approached the first tee knowing he didn’t have to worry about any bunkers. McIlroy launched that first tee shot 331 yards down the fairway, the longest drive of the week by 16 yards. That left him 104 yards to the pin, and he had no issue placing a wedge shot within 10 feet for birdie.
On the par-5 second hole, it was 369 yards with a comically aggressive line over the left-side trees. McIlroy averaged 340 yards off the tee Saturday. The field average was 300.
“Felt like I hit sort of three perfect shots on 2,” he said, putting his approach just off the back of the green. From there, he hit a perfectly paced chip down the hill and into the hole for eagle. His entire body dropped down to an excited crouch as it fell in. Within minutes, McIlroy had taken the lead from Justin Rose.
Minutes later, another birdie. This one on the short par-4 third hole. Then a par on the par-3 fourth, a birdie on the par-4 fifth, and another par on the par-3 sixth. More history. It was the first time in Masters history somebody opened with six-straight “3s” on a scoreboard. Nobody else had even opened with five.
“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,” McIlroy said. “You know, there’s a lot of anticipation and sort of anxious energy that builds up. You just want to get out there and play.”
Rory McIlroy had tens of thousands following him Saturday afternoon. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
This was the version of McIlroy people clamored for. Pressure on. Big stage. Everybody focused on whether or not he specifically could rise to the occasion, and McIlroy went and grabbed it. He attacked. This wasn’t the 2022 Open Championship when he left every 50-50 putt short. Or the 2023 U.S. Open when he seemed too conservative. This was Valhalla McIlroy, a young 25-year-old cockily strutting through the dark to win the 2014 PGA Championship. It’s still his last major championship.
The second act on Saturday created concern. Bogeys on Nos. 8 and 10 — plus a painful missed 9-foot birdie putt on No. 9 — dropped a five-shot lead down to just one with DeChambeau and playing partner Corey Conners on his tail.
McIlroy believes it was the seven-foot par putt at the start of Amen Corner on No. 11 that resparked his momentum. He went to the par-5 13th still barely holding onto his lead. At that moment, Conners was just one back. McIlroy’s 316-yard drive put him in the first cut with a great angle in. Again, he attacked. Of course, he attacked. His approach landed center green and rolled off the back, fortunately stopping just centimeters from the bunker lip. He chipped to four feet.
“I just know he’s gonna miss this,” one 20-something-year-old fan said in the grandstands. “This (expletive) is not gonna be good.”
But McIlroy did make it. And he eventually went to 15 with a two-shot lead and a chance to seize the moment. After he hit that immaculate 6-iron for his easy eagle, Augusta National felt like it had already coronated him, premature nonetheless.
As he rounded the water in front of the green, the patrons rose for a standing ovation. They held their stance and applauded, McIlroy lifting his putter into the air in appreciation.
But as McIlroy had to wait for the group on 16, he opened his yardage book and flipped to the back. Those moments in which McIlroy has to wait? Those are the dangerous ones. Those are when McIlroy has admitted in the past he’s let his mind wander. He’s let himself think about all the things that could come.
In the back of the book, McIlroy has a handful of little reminders. One or two-sentence cliches and mantras he uses to keep himself in the moment. He stared at them for a minute or two as he waited, and ultimately he hit a pretty approach into 16 as part of the finish to an epic 66.
For 15 years, Augusta National and its patrons have beckoned Rory McIlroy to finally come and wear the green jacket. He’s failed to grab it at every turn. He’s collapsed with a massive lead. He’s gotten off to horrid starts. He’s played timid and hid in the background.
But the last two days in Augusta, McIlroy has shown up and grabbed it. Now, we’ll see if he can hold on.
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)