AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy’s stroll toward one of the rarest feats in sports turned into a dramatic battle to avoid the wrong side of history as he saw his six-shot lead evaporate during the third round of the Masters on Saturday.
McIlroy scuffled to a 1-over-par round of 73 to fall into a share of the 54-hole lead at 11 under with Cameron Young, who tied the low round of the tournament with a 7-under 65. Young began the day eight shots behind McIlroy, who had set a tournament record with a six-shot lead through 36 holes as he attempts to become only the fourth player in history to win consecutive Masters.
Fourteen players will now begin Sunday’s final round within six shots of the co-leaders, a group that includes two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. He matched Young’s 65 to pull within four shots of the top.
McIlroy’s cushion steadily evaporated during a round in which the Northern Irishman was one of only two players in the current top 20 to fail to break par. And his struggles came on a day when Augusta National gave up a scoring average of 70.63.
“Didn’t quite have it today,” McIlroy said. “I’m still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can’t forget that, but I do know I’m going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win.”
Playing five groups in front of McIlroy, Young reeled in the leader and briefly passed him on the back nine. He carded eight birdies against a lone bogey to equal the 65 McIlroy posted on Friday and the one Scheffler recorded early in the third round.
McIlroy and Young, Sunday’s final pairing, will begin the day with a one-shot lead over Sam Burns. Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who recorded the tournament’s first hole-in-one since 2022 on the sixth hole Saturday, sits alone in fourth place at 9 under.
“That’s wild, isn’t it?” said Lowry, who also carded an ace at the Houston Open last month. “You don’t ever expect to make a hole-in-one. I just couldn’t believe it. Obviously, you know, you’re out there, and you’re in the hunt at the Masters and you’re making hole-in-one, it’s pretty cool.
“The walk down the sixth hole with everyone around 16 and the sixth was very special. I’ll remember that for a while. Yeah, it was obviously amazing.”
Australia’s Jason Day and England’s Justin Rose are another shot back.
Young’s 7-under-par effort was his best in 15 career Masters rounds by two shots. After steadily picking away at McIlroy’s lead most of the day, Young took his first outright lead of the tournament with a birdie on 16 while McIlroy found the water and double bogeyed the 11th.
Young parred out from there to reach the clubhouse at 11 under and watched as McIlroy battled his way to the finish line. McIlroy, who reached 13 under for the first time in the tournament with a birdie on the 10th, found himself back at 10 under after a bogey on the par-3 12th.
McIlroy reeled off consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 to regain a one-shot lead. Another wayward drive led to a bogey on the 17th, then just missed a 25-foot birdie putt at 18. He hit eight of 14 fairways in the third round, which improved his average to 50% through three rounds. His 10 greens hit on Saturday were his fewest this week.
“I felt like I bounced back pretty well with the birdies on 14 and 15,” McIlroy said. “It would have been nice to play those last few holes and not make that bogey on 17, but you know, I still have a great chance. I’m in the final group.
“I just need to go to the range and try to figure it out a little bit.”
Making his fifth Masters appearance, Young appeared in jeopardy of not even being around for the weekend after beginning his tournament with four bogeys through his first seven holes. He was still at 4 over through 11 holes on Thursday.
That’s when Young lit a spark with consecutive birdies on Amen Corner to turn his tournament around. He is now 15 under over his past 43 holes. Before Friday’s 67, Young had broken 70 only once at Augusta National.
He did get fortunate on the 13th hole, when he pulled his drive left across Rae’s Creek, only to have the ball ricochet back to the fairway. Young ended up making birdie to get to 10 under for the first time.
“For that ball to end up somewhere that I could hit it, never mind have just kind of a standard 6-iron to the middle of the green, was very fortunate,” Young acknowledged. “It’s one of those times that really keeps the round going.”
Teeing off 2 1/2 hours before McIlroy, Scheffler made his own charge up the leaderboard with his 65 also setting a personal best at Augusta National.
Scheffler’s previous low round at Augusta National was a 66 in the first round of 2024, when he went on to win his second Masters title. After opening the day 12 shots off the lead, he sits just four back of the leaders in a tie for seventh place.
“Went out and executed to give myself some opportunities, and more of that tomorrow, and I think I’ll be in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “(My score) definitely could have been lower. But like I said, I did what I needed to do.”
Scheffler will go out four groups ahead of the leaders and try to post another low score to ratchet up the pressure. Meanwhile, McIlroy and Young will take a much more stressful trip around Augusta National after also playing the first two rounds together.
“I don’t get the sense I’ll be the fan favorite,” said Young, who is a career-best No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Scheffler and McIlroy. “It will still be lopsided, I think. Rory’s kind of a world favorite in the golf world.
“A year ago, if I’d been in the same situation, there would have been very little, and now there’s probably a little more. So I’ll take what I can get, and I’ll be happy with that.”
Meanwhile, McIlroy was keeping the perspective that he’s still tied for the 54-hole lead while he attempts to join Jack Nicklaus (1965-66), Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02) as the only players to win consecutive Masters.
“I’d like to think that I’ll play a little bit freer and I’ll play like I’ve already got a green jacket, which I do,” McIlroy said. “Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that, but I think as well that the stakes in terms of the pairing will be just a little bit easier.
“You know, the atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier.”
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
