AUGUSTA, Ga. — (AP) — The greatest start in the 91-year history of the Masters wasn't enough for Rory McIlroy. He delivered what looked to be a haymaker late Saturday afternoon, a 6-iron so majestic and pure that he walked 10 yards before he saw it land 6 feet away for eagle on the 15th hole.
Bryson DeChambeau wasn't the least fazed. He hit his tee shot to 4 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th, posing briefly to stare at the leaderboard, working up a gallery already delirious from a roaring, raucous at Augusta National.
“When I made that, I looked up and I said — kind of as a statement — like, ‘You know what? I’m still here. I'm going to keep going. I'm not going to back down.'”
McIlroy finished off another 6-under 66 for his first 54-hole lead in a major since he last captured one in 2014 at the PGA Championship. At stake Sunday at the Masters is a chance to end 11 years chasing the career Grand Slam, the most elite club in golf.
“It was an awesome day and it puts me in a great position going into tomorrow,” he said.
Joining him in the final group is a recent nemesis — DeChambeau — who ripped his heart out at Pinehurst No. 2 last June when he seized on McIlroy's late mistakes to win the U.S. Open.
McIlroy is the sentimental favorite for dealing with a decade of major championship heartache. DeChambeau is wildly popular as golf's greatest entertainer.
The arena is Augusta National, the greatest theater in golf that can thrill and torture the soul at every turn.
“It will be the grandest stage that we’ve had in a long time, and I’m excited for it,” DeChambeau said. "We both want to win really, really badly — shoot, there’s a lot of great players behind us, too; got to be mindful of that. It's about who can control themselves and who can execute the golf shots the best.
“It's going to be an electric atmosphere.”
It already was on a Saturday that started with McIlroy putting six straight 3s on his scorecard, which featured a chip-in for eagle on the par-5 second. It ended with DeChambeau making birdie with a putt just under 50 feet on the edge of the 18th green for a 69.
McIlroy was at 12-under 204, a two-shot lead and one round away from that coveted Masters green jacket and the grand prize that comes along with it.
Along with a memory of DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, McIlroy is also familiar with his position at Augusta National.
It was 14 years ago when McIlroy, a 21-year-old with long, curly locks and unlimited potential, took a four-shot lead into the final round of the Masters. What followed was a meltdown that left him in tears when he shot 80.
He hasn't had a better chance at that green jacket until this week, when he recovered from two double bogeys in the opening round and responded with rounds of 66-66.
Corey Conners, who went from a five-shot deficit to one shot behind McIlroy in a span of three holes on this wild Saturday, closed with eight straight pars for a 70. He was in third place, four shots behind.
No one else was closer than six shots of McIlroy. Justin Rose, who had a one-shot lead at the start of the day, shot 75 and was seven shots back.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and world's No. 1 player, was stuck in neutral on a thrilling afternoon with so much movement. He was having to stay in the game with tough pars and managed only two birdies in his round of 72. He also was seven shots behind.
“You can only shoot so low if you’re going to have to wedge it from 100 yards to make par,” Scheffler said.
The rest of this Saturday didn't lack for excitement, roars coming from all corners from the time McIlroy blasted his opening drive over the bunkers to set up birdie all the way to the end when DeChambeau went from a fairway bunker to the edge of the green to an unlikely birdie.
McIlroy shied away from the notion this is a rematch with DeChambeau, a chance to atone from last June when he missed two short putts down the stretch.
“The big thing is not to make it a rematch,” McIlroy said. “Stay in my own little world. There's a few people who can make a run. I have to do what I've been doing, surround myself in my own little cocoon.”
DeChambeau was fist-pumping his way around Augusta National with key short-game shots. For all his power, this was a masterclass in chipping and putting. And he relishes a shot at green jacket, especially with McIlroy at his side.
“Two behind, I couldn't ask for more,” he said.
So much of what McIlroy did was a reminder of how much it all can change. Even so, his start was nothing short of astonishing.
A wedge to 10 feet for birdie on the first hole. And after the cheers died for DeChambeau's long birdie putt at the first, McIlroy cranked up the volume by chipping in for eagle on the par-5 second. He holed a 7-foot birdie on the third, had a two-putt on the par-3 fourth and then hammered another drive — 70 yards by Conners — leaving him a 9-iron to 18 feet for yet another birdie 3.
And it could have been better. He made a soft bogey on the par-5 eighth with a weak chip from behind the green. He missed a 5-foot birdie putt from above the hole on No. 9. He three-putted from long range for bogey on the 10th.
McIlroy missed another birdie chance on the 17th, missing an 8-foot putt and he was visibly angry with himself walking off the green. Every shot matters. McIlroy knows that from experience in 2011.
Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, birdied two of the last three holes for a 69 and was at 6-under 210 along with Ludvig Aberg, the runner-up a year ago who finally got in gear with three straight birdies on the back nine for a 69.
Shane Lowry also was in the mix, getting within two shots of the lead at one point until he missed a good birdie chance at the 15th and bogeys on the final two holes for a 72. He was seven behind.
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