Less than 24 hours after it appeared to be on life support, Rory McIlroy spectacularly revived his bid to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam.
McIlroy shrugged off the crushing disappointment of two late double bogeys in the space of three holes in his opening 72 to card an eagle and four birdies in a second-round 66 which drew a standing ovation from the patrons around the 18th green at Augusta National.
The thrilling effort lifted McIlroy to six under par and a shot behind the man who denied him a fifth major title in last year’s US Open, Bryson DeChambeau, with Justin Rose setting the halfway target on eight under following a 71.
FALDO IN AWE
“It’s fabulous stuff,” three-time Masters champion Sir Nick Faldo said of McIlroy’s round on Sky Sports.
“To go on after yesterday and the two doubles, I felt he’d basically gone back to zero and starts again. This is going to be won at 10 or 12 under, he’s got plenty of time; he’s got three rounds to get to that score.”
McIlroy needed a fast start on Friday to get back into contention but could only cover the front nine in 35, before kickstarting his challenge in style with stunning approach shots to the 10th and 11th setting up tap-in birdies.
The four-time major champion then enjoyed a massive slice of luck on the 12th as his tee shot bounded over the green into the bushes, only to kick back towards the putting surface from where he two-putted for par.
There was no luck involved, although plenty of risk, on the 13th as McIlroy went for the green in two from the pine straw, his iron shot just carrying Rae’s Creek and setting up an eagle attempt from 10 feet he duly converted.
“I was between a four and a five iron and when the ball was in the air, I was like, you idiot, what did you do?,” McIlroy said. “I was glad I hit the four iron and it covered that little corner there.”
The par-five 15th had cost McIlroy one of his double bogeys on Thursday but it was a different story in round two, the world number two safely finding the green in two and two-putting from 90 feet for birdie.
“Overall I’m just really proud of myself with how I responded after the finish last night,” McIlroy said.
“I just had to remind myself I played really good golf yesterday and was not going to let two bad holes dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.
“Once I left the property I tried to leave what had happened here. I rushed home to see (daughter) Poppy before she went to bed and I feel like I did a good job of resetting.
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST
“I had a good conversation with Bob Rotella (sports psychologist) about not pushing too hard too early, just tried to stay really, really patient and that was rewarded with a nice little stretch in the middle of the round.
“I don’t think I proved anything, if anything just backed up the belief I have in myself and the belief that I’m as resilient as anyone else out here.”
Rose, who finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth in 2015 and lost a play-off to Sergio Garcia in 2017, recorded four birdies and three bogeys in his 71 and was relishing the prospect of taking on the likes of McIlroy, DeChambeau and defending champion Scottie Scheffler over the weekend.
“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career,” Rose said.
“That’s where I’ve been for a lot of my career. I’ve been a top-10 player in the world for a decade or more so this is nice to be back in that mix, a hundred per cent.”
Canada’s Corey Conners was alongside McIlroy on six under par, with Scheffler, Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt McCarty all on five under, but five-time major winner Brooks Koepka missed the cut after making a quadruple-bogey eight on the 18th.
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