'Not a rematch' - McIlroy vows to stay in his lane as Masters Sunday revisits Pinehurst
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on from the 18th hole during the third round of the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 12, 2025 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
The 89th Masters has turned into Pinehurst revisited – but this time Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau going head-to-head in the final pairing with a very small cushion on potential chargers coming after them.
McIlroy fired his second consecutive 6-under 66 to climb to 12-under par and stake himself to a two-shot lead over DeChambeau, who rallied with three birdies on the last four holes to set up a potential duel between two of the most electric champions in golf with a Masters green jacket on the line.
It is the same final protagonists from the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2 where McIlroy faltered after taking the lead late and DeChambeau hit the hero long-bunker shot on the last to break the Northern Irishman’s heart.
“Biggest thing is not to make it a rematch and stay in my own little world,” said McIlroy.
Keeping the two lead dogs honest is a meaty lineup of potential spoilers hoping to make a Sunday charge. Canadian Corey Conners is alone in third at 8-under, with 2018 Masters champ Patrick Reed and last year’s runner-up Ludvig Åberg sharing fourth at 6-under.
The quartet of major winners at 5-under includes Shane Lowry, defending champ Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day and Justin Rose, What was shaping up into a perfect day for Ireland soured on the last two holes when Shane Lowry bogeyed 17 and 18 to finished level par on the day and instead of claiming a spot in one of the last two pairings he fell into a tie for sixth.
“I felt like I let a really good day go there at the end, so I’m obviously disappointed,” said a gutted Lowry who sits seven shots behind McIlroy’s lead.
But the story of the day was McIlroy. He got off to an absolutely soaring start, picking right up where he left off on his back nine Friday that elevated him into the thick of the picture.
Starting two and one shot behind Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau respectively, McIlroy turned the opening hour of his final round into an Irish dance party as he lit up the opening holes like be player in history ever has.
McIlroy started 3-3-3-3-3 – 5-under through five holes and turned his two-shot deficit into as much as a four-shot lead. No player in Masters history has ever made five consecutive 3s to start a tournament round.
“Obviously it was a dream start to get off to the start that I did,” McIlroy said. “Hit two perfect shots on 1 and converted. Felt like I hit sort of three perfect shots on 2. Three perfect shots on 3. It was such a great way to start, and you know, just to come out of the blocks like that.”
His 12-footer for birdie on the first sent an audible message to the leaders walking off the tee that McIlroy was ready to play. But it was his delicate curling pitch-in for eagle from 18 yards behind the second green that drew the kind of roar only Augusta is famous for. The course was tangibly crackling with excitement as he put himself in the lead for the first time.
A solid par from off the edge on the fourth kept his momentum going and when he buried an 18-footer for yet another birdie the delirium rose another level.
Lowry, who started with two birdies in the first three holes himself, said the energy was distracting.
“I got off to a great start. There was an unbelievable atmosphere out there,” Lowry said. “Rory obviously was playing good behind and the roars, you had to stand off it a little bit, wait for those to happen, wait for him to get the shots.” To that point, McIlroy had played his last 14 holes going back to his 3-3-3-3 start on the back Friday in 10-under par.
The potential was there to pull away with par-5 eighth – the easiest hole on the course – in front of him, but McIlroy made his first bogey of the week instead when he caught the lip trying to escape the fairway bunker and then missed a 10-footer to save par.
On the ninth, he bombed his drive to the bottom of the hill and stuck a brilliant wedge to 5 feet from the difficult back pin only to miss the bounce-back birdie opportunity. Then on the 10th he had only his second three-putt of the week for another bogey and his brief four-shot lead was down to one.
Two scrambling pars on 11 and 12 righted the ship and McIlroy had the two par-5s in front of him.
“I had that a little bit of a wobble around the turn there with the bogey on 8, the missed chance on 9 and then the three-putt on 10,” he said.
“I thought that the par putt on 11 was huge, just to sort of get some momentum back. You know, to get through 11 and 12 at even par was great. And then, you know, all I was trying to do then was take advantage of the par 5s coming in, and thankfully I was able to do that.”
On 13 he got up and down for birdie. Then at 15, where his opening round went off the rails with the first of two doubles, McIlroy hit a towering 6-iron from 205 yards to 6 feet that was so pure he started walking behind it before it reached its apex.
The resulting eagle lifted him back to a four-shot lead. But McIlroy failed to convert another par-breaker, missing a chance from 8 feet on 17, while DeChambeau made birdies at 15, 16 and 18 to close the gap to two shots heading into a Sunday showdown.
“Tomorrow in that final group is going to be – it’s going to be a little rowdy and a little loud,” McIlroy said. “I’m just going to have to settle in and really try to keep myself in my own little bubble and keep my head down and, you know, sort of approach tomorrow with the same attitude that I have tried to approach the last three days with.”
DeChambeau, whose 48-foot birdie putt on 18 extended his reputation as a serial shot-stealer on 18th holes at majors, is gung-ho for a showdown with the world No. 2.
“It will be the grandest stage that we’ve had in a long time, and I’m excited for it,” he 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 and focus on … it’s about who can control themselves and who can execute the golf shots the best. … It’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”
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