EVERYONE at Augusta – and probably in every corner of the golfing globe – was asking the same question: “What the heck have they done with Rory McIlroy?”.
For most of the third round, the swaggering, strutting genius who built up the biggest 36 hole lead in history – a massive six shots – was replaced by a staggering stumbling shadow, plagued by doubt and indecision.
Rory McIlroy ended Day Two of the Masters with a six-point leadCredit: Getty
But that lead was erased after an epic collapse on Day ThreeCredit: GETTY
Yet somehow, at the end of it all, McIlroy salvaged a one over par 73, and he still has the lead. Well, a share of it anyway, with the charging bull that is Players champion Cameron Young.
You would have had a hard job convincing anyone who was not keeping careful count that McIlroy had not signed for a score at least three or four shots worse than that.
The defending champion actually surrendered the lead to Young at one point – an unthinkable scenario in what looked like becoming a procession towards a second green jacket.
Not any more. As well as the looming figure of Young in the final group today, McIlory will look over his shoulder and see they are queuing up to dethrone him.
His third round playing partner, is only two back. , buoyed at becoming the at Augusta is another shot adrift.
A couple more Major champions in and who are only three back – and you can also throw the duo on seven under into the mix, and Haotong Li. They are both a lot closer than they were setting out yesterday.
World No 1 Scheffler matched Young’s seven under par 65. But he started four shots further back on level par, so he still has a mountain to climb if he is to claim a third Masters title in five years.
Young is a very real threat to McIlroy’s hopes of joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and and Jack Nicklaus.
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He has all the momentum after powering from his way up the leaderboard over the last two days, after stumbling to four OVER par through nine holes of his first round.
Young snatched the Players title from Matt Fitzpatrick’s grasp with a birdie-birdie finish at Sawgrass. He would love to make it a double with another bit of Brit-bashing.
To avoid that fate, McIlroy will have to rediscover the brilliance he showed to shoot 12 under par for the first 36 holes.
It was soon clear this was not the same McIlroy who made an electrifying start to the second round, when he birdied three of the first four holes.
A careless approach from inside 120 yards at the first hole went skidding through the green. And after deciding to use a putter from off the fringe he three-stabbed for an opening bogey.
He smashed a drive into the trees on the par five second – again – and had to settle for par on a hole giving up tons of birdies and a few eagles.
McIlroy gave his supporters something to cheer about by driving the green at the par four third, which had been pushed forward to encourage the big hitters to have a pop.
His 22 footer for eagle never looked like troubling the hole, but a tap-in birdie was a big relief.
It was also much needed after McIlroy had seen his six shot overnight lead cut to just TWO less than half an hour after he teed off.
His bogey and Patrick Reed’s sizzling hat-trick of birdies to start his round took him to nine had the 2018 Masters winning breathing down his rival’s neck.
Reed fell back as he got caught on the bogey train, and it was early starter Young who quickly emerged as the danger man.
When McIlroy slipped back to ten under on the back of a ridiculous double bogey at 11 – where his approach shot from the middle of the fairway came up woefully short and found the water – and another dropped shot at 11, Young was the solo leader.
He responded with a rare blunder of his own, dumping his third shot into the water at 15. He did well to escape with just a bogey, and repaired the damage by sinking a 27 footer for birdie on the 16th.
McIlroy conjured up back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 to reclaim the lead, only to give one back at 17.
There are likely to be plenty more twists and turns before this Major is done.
Cameron Young capitalised on McIlroy’s meltdown by going 11 under.Credit: Getty
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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