McIlroy falters, Lowry surges to set up thrilling Masters final round
SCRAP SATURDAY: Rory McIlroy walks off the green after the third round of the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club. Pic: AP Photo/Matt Slocum
In the nirvana that is Augusta National, the sport’s gods delivered this: a blockbuster final round set for scorching conditions with both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry firmly in the hunt.
Defending champion McIlroy followed up his second round 65 with a stumbling 73 on Saturday to finish tied for the lead with Cameron Young, the 28-year-old American who is in pursuit of his first major. He was one of two elite talents who shot a 65 in the third round. Scottie Scheffler issued a timely reminder of why he is number one in the world with five birdies and an eagle in his best ever round at the Masters.
McIlroy’s inability to find a fairway continued as he kicked off with a sloppy bogey. The sound of that first strike had patrons wincing beside the clubhouse.
Even when he encountered a fortunate break on the 11th, he failed to take advantage. An errant drive clipped a tree and rebounded back onto the fairway. His approach then rolled into the pond on the left of the green for a double-bogey. Another dropped shot followed, blowing the race wide open once more.
“Didn't quite have it today,” he said afterwords. “Yeah, even just starting at the first hole with that soft bogey, even though I hit a pretty good drive. I mean the course was obviously gettable. There was a lot of good scores out there and obviously the quality of the chasing pack is obvious. There was a lot of guys that shot good scores.
“You know, there is a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow.”
To his credit, McIlroy bounced back with a run of par-birdie-birdie-par. It was never likely to be simple, either. So on 17, he yanked his drive into the trees on his way to another bogey.
On Sunday, he will play with Cameron Young at 7:25pm Irish time. It is set to be another dramatic final round, yet different too.
“I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer and I'll play like I've already got a green jacket, which I do. Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that, but I think as well that the stakes in terms of, the pairing will be just a little bit easier. The atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier.
“Yeah, I'm not worried about that at all. I wish I was a few shots better off, but I'm comfortable. I played with Cam the first two days. Playing with him again tomorrow. I think it's a comfortable group for both of us.” Lowry made his own history by becoming the first player to record two aces after a stunning hole-in-one at the sixth. He struck a 7-iron right at the flag to prompt raucous celebrations with his family, including father Brendan, coach Neil Manchip and friend, former Irish international Peter O'Mahony, all elated by the immense effort.
“You don't ever expect to make a hole-in-one,” he said. “I just couldn't believe it. Obviously, you know, you're out there, and you're in the hunt at the Masters and you're making hole-in-one, it's pretty cool.
“The walk down the sixth hole with everyone around 16 and the 6th was very special. I'll remember that for a while.” A crucial juncture came on the scorable but treacherous par-5 15th. Lowry’s second shot spun back into the front water, but he recovered admirably to make par.
“I've said to certain pins that I would take that bunker all day in two and that's where I was trying to hit. I wasn't trying to hit it on the green. I was trying to hit it in the bunker because that bunker is far easier than the wedge shot from short.
“I hit it and looked away like I thought it was the middle of the bunker and couldn't believe when I heard a big of an, ‘ah.’ I didn't know if it was short or not because it wasn't too big of a sigh from the crowd. Maybe they were happy.
“I thought I did a great job of calming myself down and just hitting the next shot. I got that up-and-down, that was huge. Then on 16, I holed, what, a 6-footer for par on 16 as well. So that was really nice the last few holes.” All over the course, contenders were scoring heavily. Sam Burns moved to ten under, with Jason Day and Justin Rose lurking behind Lowry. Scheffler is joined by China’s Li Haotong, who feared he wouldn’t be able to even compete on Friday after spending the morning "living in the toilet" because of illness.
The roars and updates of red scores on the old-school leaderboards were inescapable.
“I saw Scottie was making a run,” said Lowry. “You know as probably everyone expected. He's going to have a chance tomorrow as well. It's pretty good leaderboard, so it's going to be pretty hard to win this tournament tomorrow, but I'll give it my best.”
Moving day proved spectacular. If Sunday follows suit, we are in for an epic.
: Shane Lowry, Sam Burns
: Cameron Young, Rory McIlroy
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