<p>Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 15 tee during the second round of the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Friday, April 12, 2024</p>
Saturday is moving day at the Masters but Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry emerged as serious contenders for Irish golf’s first green jacket after a fantastic Friday at Augusta National.
It was a red letter for McIlroy in particular as he followed Thursday afternoon’s disastrous finish for a bitterly disappointing 72 with a brilliant 66 that catapulted him to joint third on six-under as he seeks the final leg of the career Grand Slam and a place in the history books.
He’s tied for third with Canada’s Corey Conners, just two shots behind Justin Rose who backed up his 65 with a 71 to head US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau by a stroke.
It was a mature and measured performance from the Holywood star, who heeded Dr Bob Rotella’s advice not to be in a hurry to try and recover the ground he lost on Thursday with a rash birdie chase on the first nine.
“I think overall just proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night,” said McIlroy, who went to the turn in one-under before racing home in 31 thanks to back to back birdies at the 10th and 11th, an eagle at the 13th and a birdie at the 15th.
“I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and I wasn't going to let two bad holes dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.
“Ultimately, just proud of how I got back into it today.”
McIlroy rode his luck at times, barely carrying Rae’s Creek at the 13th with a daring four-iron from the pine straw.
“I was between a 4- and a 5-iron,” he said. “And usually the ball comes out of it spinnier out of the pine straw. So I hit a 4-iron, and the follow-through, definitely I saved it, and I was glad that I hit 4-iron.
"I covered that little corner there.
<img alt="" height="4753" src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52780078e4b0782c048f31cb/3cac2d04-8311-413a-b9a5-99e490f36e4d/25SL209407.jpg?format=1000w" width="7129" />
<p>Shane Lowry of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 11 tee during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 10, 2025</p>
“But yeah, when the ball was in the air, I was like, you idiot, what did you do? …Yeah, I rode my luck a little bit with that second shot, but was nice to take advantage of it.”
He rode his luck at the 15th too, barely carrying the lake that gobbled up his errant chip in round one, leading to the first of two double bogeys in three holes
But he also putted beautifully between five and 10 feet, making seven putts in that range — one for eagle, three for birdie and three more for par.
Mental coach Rotella can take credit for reminding McIlroy that this is a marathon not a sprint.
“I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella this morning, mostly around not pushing too hard too early and trying to get those shots back straightaway,” McIlroy confessed.
“And you can sort of see how I started today with eight pars and a birdie on the front nine. I just tried to stay really, really patient.
“I feel like that patience was rewarded with a nice little stretch there in the middle of the round.”
McIlroy was proud of his resilience but knows that he’ll need to show patience in spades this weekend.
“You know, we've got 36 holes to go on a very, very tough golf course,” he said, predicting a winning score between 12 and 15-under-par.
Rose is closest to that target right now but defending champion Scottie Scheffler is lurking just a shot behind McIlroy on five-under after a roller coaster 71 in the windier afternoon conditions.
The Texan is tied for fifth with Matt McCarty, Tyrrell Hatton and Lowry, who dropped an early shot at the fourth before playing sublimely from there for a 68.
“This is what you get up out of bed in the morning, for late tee times on Saturdays and Sundays of majors,” a delighted Lowry said.
“I got myself a late tee time tomorrow afternoon and hopefully I can go out and do something pretty good and get myself a late tee time Sunday and take it from there.”
After watching McIlroy shoot up the leaderboard with that homeward nine of 31, Lowry’s goal is to put himself in position to strike on the back nine on Sunday.
“Yeah, I'm happy for him,” Lowry said of McIlroy. “I ate breakfast with him this morning. We talked about what he did yesterday and he was quite frustrated. I'm sure last night was tough for him.
“But for both of us, there's a lot of golf to be played this weekend yet, and he knew that, and what a run he made on the back nine.
“That's what this golf course can throw up if you play well… We both played our way into the tournament nicely.”
The Masters
Leaders after 36 holes
-8 Justin Rose 65 71
-7 Bryson DeChambeau 69 68
-6 Rory McIlroy 72 66, Corey Conners 68 70
-5 Matt McCarty 71 68, Shane Lowry 71 68, Scottie Scheffler 68 71, Tyrrell Hatton 69 70
-4 Rasmus Hojgaard 73 67, Viktor Hovland 71 69, Jason Day 70 70
-3 Sungjae Im 71 70, Ludvig Aberg 68 73, Hideki Matsuyama 73 68, Patrick Reed 71 70, Collin Morikawa 72 69.
-2 Xander Schauffele 73 69, Tommy Fleetwood 73 69, Davis Riley 73 69, Michael Kim 71 71, Brian Harman 71 71
-1 Bubba Watson 71 72, Sam Burns 73 70, Nico Echavarria 73 70, Harris English 70 73, Min Woo Lee 71 72.
Article Link: McIlroy and Lowry poised for green jacket chase at The Masters - News - Irish Golf Desk