rory mcilroy

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The most unexpected of revelations unfolded Saturday at the Masters.

It became a golf tournament.

Rory McIlroy, who built the biggest 36-hole lead in history, wobbled and wilted — one shot in the water, another in the woods — while others surged and made a run at the reigning champion.

Cameron Young, who was eight back of McIlroy to start the day, overtook the Grand Slam winner late in the day. McIlroy briefly reclaimed a one-shot lead but gave that back with a bogey on 17, bending over in exasperation when he left a par putt just short.

Cameron Young fist bumps his caddie, Kyle Sterbinsky, on the 18th green during the third round of the Masters on Saturday in Augusta, Ga.

(Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

Young, whose first PGA Tour victory came last August, heads into the final round tied atop the leaderboard with McIlroy at 11 under par.

The 28-year-old from Westchester County, N.Y., is going to take a business-as-usual approach to the biggest day of his career. He plans to start the day with Mass at a nearby church — before taking on Amen Corner.

“It might be difficult to go undetected, but it’s not going to stop us,” said Young, who has three children younger than 5. “We’ll find somewhere and take the kids. We’ll be out in full force just like usual.”

Saturday was a remarkable turnaround for Young, who was all but cooked on Thursday, playing the first seven holes in four over par. He bounced back strong with a 67 on Friday, and a 65 on Saturday, collecting a combined 14 birdies over those rounds.

Rory McIlroy reacts in frustration on the 18th green during the third round of the Masters on Sunday in Augusta, Ga.

(Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

“I don’t get the sense I’ll be the fan favorite,” Young said. “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 [fan support], and now there’s probably a little more. So I’ll take what I can get.”

A host of other competitors moved within striking distance of their first green jacket — Sam Burns, Nick Lowry, Jason Day and Justin Rose.

Lowry had a hole-in-one on No. 6, a decade after acing the 16th. He became the first player in Masters history to record multiple holes-in-one.

Scottie Sheffler, ranked No. 1 in the world, started the day at even par but shot 65 to climb into the mix at four shots back, saying, “I don’t feel like I’m out of the tournament.”

For Day, the key to his 68 was staying patient. He three-putted the opening hole for bogey but kept his cool.

“Statistically I average around four to five birdies a round, so I just knew they were going to come,” he said. “I just didn’t know when they were going to come.”

He got hot from the 12th through 15th holes, stringing together four birdies in a row.

Day has been in contention at the Masters several times, finishing second in 2015.

“I feel like the guys that are leading right now have all the pressure,” he said. “I’m just kind of the chaser. Usually the chasers don’t really have a lot of the pressure.”

That Collin Morikawa is even relevant at this point is stunning, considering the physical battle he’s enduring. The two-time major winner shot 68 on Saturday despite issues with an injury — possibly his back — affecting his legs. He said he’s swinging at roughly half-speed.

“My legs aren’t moving the way they used to,” he said. “So then I’m throwing my arms, and I’m having to time up my arms. So, like, every swing I’m putting at, I am essentially just throwing my arms at the ball hoping that it squares everything up.”

Morikawa was six shots back along with former UCLA standout Jake Knapp and one behind another former Bruin, Patrick Cantlay (five back).

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Among the many rules at Augusta National — no cell phones, no booing, no lying in the grass — patrons are not allowed to run.

Somebody tell Rory McIlroy.

The defending Masters champion was sprinting away from the field Friday, building a six-shot lead heading into the weekend and putting himself in prime position to become the first repeat winner since Tiger Woods in 2002.

McIlroy atoned for two bogeys with nine birdies, shooting a seven-under-par 65 to improve on his stellar 67 in the opening round.

At 12 under, he now holds the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.

“When I was standing on the 12th tee, I didn’t imagine that I would be six ahead going into the weekend,” said McIlroy, who birdied six of the final seven holes despite hitting into the trees on holes 13, 15 and 17.

“I’ve always had the ability to go on these runs … but it’s staying aggressive. My little mantra today was keep swinging, and keep swinging hard at it.”

And he completed that masterpiece in the afternoon, when the legendary course was even firmer and more slippery than it was in the morning. The warm weather and cloudless skies set the stage for a test of surgical precision in the final two rounds.

“These greens are going to be concrete,” said Wyndham Clark, who followed an even-par round with a four-under 68. “Obviously getting really fast without the wind, so it’s going to really matter hitting it in the fairway and the angles, and being patient.”

Rory McIlroy walks across Nelson Bridge with his caddy during the second round at the Masters.

(Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Fifty-four competitors from 15 different countries made the cut from a starting field of 91.

Of his jaw-dropping finishing scramble, McIlroy said: “The only way I can describe it is everything that you see or any situation that you come across, you can find a positive in it. And then you see birdies and you can see ways to make birdies. Hit it in the trees at 13, fine, I can make a birdie doing it this way. Hit it in the trees at 15, same thing.”

Whereas McIlroy created separation, Tyrrell Hatton made a case for inclusion. He was two over after Thursday but played himself back into contention with a 66 on Friday, hitting all 18 greens in regulation and becoming just the third player in 30 years to do that at the Masters. He is tied for seventh with Clark.

Patrick Reed, who shot a 69 in the first round, matched that in the second to claim a share of second place with Sam Burns.

Reed, who left for LIV Golf but announced in January he plans to return to the PGA Tour, played golf locally at Augusta State University and won this tournament in 2018. He said that Masters experience helps in a big way now.

Of winning a green jacket, he said, “Until you do, you always have that little voice of doubt in the back of your mind.”

Justin Rose, who lost to McIlroy in a sudden-death playoff last year, is in a three-way tie for fourth with Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood.

Patrick Reed hits off the 18th tee during the second round of the Masters on Friday.

(Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

Asked if his near-miss in 2025 serves as extra motivation this year, Rose said: “Not really, if I’m honest. I don’t really need to try any harder, know what I mean? Trying harder ain’t going to help me.”

It was a rough day for Scottie Scheffler, ranked No. 1 in the world, as his 74 put him 12 shots back of McIlroy.

Bryson DeChambeau was on the bubble all day before a triple-bogey seven on the 18th hole. He missed the cut six over.

Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson missed the cut, as did 66-year-old Fred Couples, who was playing well Thursday until taking a quadruple-bogey nine on the 15th hole.

McIlroy played with 18-year-old amateur Mason Howell, who was sufficiently impressed as the defending champion birdied each of the final four holes.

“You’ve got to stay in your own lane, but it’s hard not to watch that,” Howell said. “That chip-in on 17 was unreal. That was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in sports, and I got to witness it in person, so that was awesome.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. — After the career grand slam, a grand entrance.

Rory McIlroy, who last year became the sixth man to win all four major championships, got off to a spectacular start at the Masters on Thursday to claim a share of the lead with a five-under-par 67.

In one sense, the pressure is off. No more wondering about winning a green jacket. Yet he was relieved to feel those familiar butterflies on the first tee.

“Look, we’re playing the first major of the year, it’s the Masters,” he said, having overcome a slightly wobbly start to collect five birdies in his final 11 holes. “If I felt absolutely nothing on that first tee, that’s not a good sign.

“So it was nice to feel my hand shaking a little bit when the tee went into the ground, and struggle to put the ball on top of the tee. So I knew I was feeling it. That’s a good thing. That’s why we want to be here. We want to be able to play our best golf when we’re feeling like that.”

He finished the postcard day tied atop the leaderboard with Sam Burns, who shot his best-ever round at the Masters.

Among those two shots off the lead is 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, who said the warm and dry conditions figure to make a difficult course even more challenging.

“It definitely has the teeth in it to make it really, really tough,” Reed said. “The greens are already getting firm, crusty, and bouncy.”

He said the 17th green, typically one of the firmest on the course, is a good example of that.

“I actually broke one tee on the hole trying to fix a ball mark,” he said. “You already know it’s going to get crusty. You know it’s going to get fast, and it’s going to take a lot of patience.”

Some stars struggled. Two-time champion Bubba Watson shot four-over, as did the long-hitting Bryson DeChambeau, who tied for fifth last year.

Said Shane Lowry, who finished two under: “This might be the toughest Masters we’ve played in a while.”

Bryson DeChambeau reacts after his tee shot on the 12th hole Thursday at Augusta National.

(Eric Gay / Associated Press)

There’s something about this storied tournament that can make even the steeliest of players weak in the knees. Mason Howell, the 18-year-old amateur playing with McIlroy, was taking such vicious swings at the ball that his hat came off three times during his round, including on the opening tee.

“That hasn’t happened in a while,” said Howell, who last year became the third-youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur. “I mean, I was going to swing out of my shoes to see if I could cover that right bunker [on No. 1].”

Even the legendary Jack Nicklaus, who won the Masters a record six times, duck-hooked his ceremonial tee shot early Thursday morning, sending it over the head of patrons lining the left side of the downward slope in front of him.

“I got it high enough to hit it about 110 yards over their heads to the left,” said Nicklaus, 86, who won his last green jacket 40 years ago. “I don’t know what was running through my mind other than not hurt anybody.”

Fred Couples, 66, the oldest competitor in the field, went from a tie for eighth to a tie for 43rd … on one hole. He had a nine on the par-five 15th, landing in the water twice.

Couples, who had been two under to that point, finished quadruple bogey, double bogey, double bogey.

Collin Morikawa, who shot a 74 at two over, said he doesn’t feel quite right, physically, although it doesn’t feel like a back issue to him.

“Physically there’s no pain,” he said. “It’s just a trust thing. My legs don’t want to trust that it’s going to hold up the back and the rest of the body. When that’s feeling wobbly, plus you add the adrenaline and the nerves, it’s just not — it’s not easy…”

He called Thursday “the toughest round I’ve ever played,” and said he could not remember waking up quite as nervous as he was before the start of this tournament.

“I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make contact,” he said.

Rory McIlroy plays a shot from the 12th tee during the first round of the Masters on Thursday.

(Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

McIlroy, playing in his 18th Masters, said he leaned heavily on his experience to maintain an even keel. A year ago, he had two double-bogeys on Thursday, and two more on Sunday, yet never panicked.

So this time, when he found himself hitting out the trees on some early holes, he resisted the urge to get too “guide-y” on his shots and instead kept swinging away.

“Even though I wasn’t hitting fairways the first few holes, I still kept swinging,” he said. “I didn’t try to get the tee down and hit fairway finders. I just trusted that eventually I’ll start to make some good swings. So that was a little bit different.”

The biggest difference? What he achieved a year ago.

“It’s easier for me,” McIlroy said, “to make those swings and not worry about where it goes when I know that I can go to the Champions Locker Room and put my green jacket on and have a Coke Zero at the end of the day.”

Xander Schauffele made par on the eighth hole Thursday at Augusta National.

What was noteworthy about that accomplishment is he did it after his tee shot landed in a most unusual spot: A fan’s merchandise bag.

During the opening round of the 2026 Masters tournament, Schauffele’s shot on the par-5 hole sailed just left of the fairway and somehow came to rest inside a woman’s clear plastic shopping bag, which appeared to be sitting on the ground.

Spectators chuckled as Schauffele and an official made their way to the bag and located the ball within it. After Schauffele used a tee to mark the ball’s location on the ground, he retrieved the ball and returned the bag to its owner. He was able to continue play without penalty.

“It just flew straight into the bag,” Schauffele said after finishing his round with a 2-under 70. “It was a great break. That bounce would’ve put me in the pine straw and who knows if I would’ve had a shot to hit up the hill.”

“So thanks to the lady on 8,” added Schauffele, the two-time major championship winner whose best Masters finish was a tie for second in 2019.

No doubt, Schauffele got lucky — but not as lucky as Louis Oosthuizen in the final round of the 2016 Masters. Oosthuizen sent his tee shot on the 16th to the green, where the ball collided with that of J.B. Holmes, changed direction and rolled in for a hole-in-one.

Schauffele’s shot also brings to mind another, perhaps even more bizarre, play from the first round of the 2021 Masters. Playing from partially behind a tree on the seventh hole, Rory McIlroy missed the right side of the fairway with a high shot that ricocheted off the back of his father’s leg on the way down.

Luckily, Gerry McIlroy was unharmed. His son, however, bogeyed that hole on his way to a 4-over 76 for the round.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy, defending Masters champion, finally belongs.

That’s how he feels in the Augusta National clubhouse, at least, even though this week marks his 18th start in the historic golf tournament.

“I always felt like I knew the week of the tournament that the clubhouse is for participants and their families,” he said, “but I still felt like I had to earn the right to be there a little more often.”

A year ago, McIlroy beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to become the sixth man to complete a career grand slam, winning all four major championships.

In the last 12 months, McIlroy has discovered that was more of a memorable mile marker than a monumental, life-changing milestone.

“I think the story as it relates to me is what do I do from now onwards?” he said Tuesday. “What motivates me? What do I still want to achieve in the game? I think that’s the story.

“And there’s still a lot I want to do. You think every time you achieve something or have success that you’ll be happy, but then the goalposts move. And they just keep nudging a little bit further and further out of reach.”

It’s a reminder, McIlroy said, to find enjoyment in the journey rather than finally achieving a specific goal.

“Honestly, I felt like the career grand slam was my destination,” he said. “I got there and realized it wasn’t the destination.”

The 36-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, had gone 11 years between major championships and joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only playerswith a career grand slam.

What’s more, McIlroy was the first Masters winner to have four double bogeys over four rounds — two on Thursday, two on Sunday.

“I think panic is the wrong word, but I didn’t overreact on Thursday …” he said. “I didn’t overreact when I was only one-under through nine on Friday. I think not overreacting and not pressing too hard, I stayed patient or as patient as I could be, and I feel like that patience was rewarded.

Scottie Scheffler puts the green jacket on Master winner Rory McIlroy last year.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

“I played a 14-hole stretch at 10-under par after that, and that was literally the stretch of golf that won me the tournament. So I think in years past I would have went for a pin I shouldn’t have went at, missed in the wrong spot, made another bogey, and then all of a sudden the round starts to get away from you, especially around here.

“Last year, I didn’t let that happen to me, and that was a big difference.”

As is tradition, he wore his green jacket as he spoke to reporters from the dais in the media auditorium. He has brought that sports coat around the world in the last year, but was too protective of it to have it dry cleaned or have a tailor change a stitch of it.

“I think for the past 17 years I could not wait for the tournament to start,” he said, adding with a laugh: “This year, I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started.”