Rory McIlroy has made history at The Masters thanks to his 6-shot lead heading into the weekend.
McIlroy began the day with three birdies on the front nine before losing a stroke at the turn. He proceeded to make six birdies on the back, four of which were on holes 15-18, to shoot 65 (-7) for the day, bringing him to 12-under overall.
However, the scorecard doesn’t really do his game today justice. When he wasn’t shooting darts at the pin, he found himself in tough positions, like the pine needles left of the fairway on hole 17. He punched out, hoping to give himself a decent angle into the pin. The crowds erupted when his 35-yard chip dropped for birdie, and we saw McIlroy smile for one of the first times this round. That adrenaline carried him into the final hole, where he outdrove Cam Young and hit it to five feet before sliding in another birdie putt.
While there are players who have gone into the weekend with a 5-shot lead, no one has ever had 6 shots.
McIlroy is followed by yesterday’s co-leader Sam Burns and Patrick Reed, tied for second at 6-under. Justin Rose and Shane Lowry both shot 3-under today to tie for third with Tommy Fleetwood, who shot 4-under today to get to 5-under.
The cutline was at 4-over today, with notable names like past Masters champion Danny Willett, recent winner J.J. Spaun and fan favorites Bryson DeChambeau and Min Woo Lee missing the cut. Fred Couples and Vijay Singh were also part of that group.
Tied for low amateur are Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang and Tennessee’s Jackson Herrington, who shot 8-over for the tournament.
Coverage resumes tomorrow from 12:00pm to 7:00pm ET on Masters.com and the Masters App and from 2:00pm to 7:00pm ET on CBS.
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