Augusta, Ga. — Rory McIlroy made a roar at Augusta National on Saturday, becoming the first player in Masters history, opening the round with six straights.
He joined the lead at 9 under after drilling a hole in the Eagle over the green in the second of the par-5, drawing out the roars that people in his home country of Belfast may have heard. McIlroy is led by up to four people after making a par on the 7th, leading two shots over his nemesis, Bryson Deccanbo, who has been in the 54-hole since last year's US Open.
But many others enter the final round on Sunday with the chance, hoping to take charge of the leaderboard. One of them is Jason Day, the winner of the 2015 PGA Championship, who had 70, 70 and 71 rounds in the first three days. He plays steady golf and sits at 5 under par in the back of McIlroy's seventh inning for the third round.
After his round, the Australian spoke about McIlroy holding the lead in Augusta. So Day issued a warning of what he essentially said there was a lot of golf left.
“Sundays at Augusta are different from other tournaments,” McIlroy said.
“I don't know what will happen. I know that if I shoot something low, I can use the crowd as momentum, and that works against you. If I can start listening to the crowd through the golf course, all I can do is try my best chance tomorrow and hopefully, I'll capitalize some of my putts.”
14 years ago, McIlroy took a four-shot lead with 54 holes, but shot the final round of 80 and ended up at 15th place. Charle Schwartzel won at the time, but the funny thing is that year everyone had the opportunity to win a green jacket.
“He's obviously playing good golf, so you have to do the best job you can. When someone is clearly playing better – I was on the edge of some of those that he got away a little.
“But it's great to see because you can hear the crowd in a particular grandstand. One number may click. These people around you may know, but they know and they can hear the cheers. There's no place like Augusta National, especially on weekends.”
Of course, if McIlroy wins on Sunday, he completed a career grand slam and became the sixth player in the history of the game. Winning every major championship was impossible to borderline, and Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods each did it three times in their own territory.
“He's certainly the best player of our generation. He just looks so easy. You look at his score today, what was he, four underskins from three holes, and kind of negligence, and then all of a sudden he makes three. [15th]Day said.
“It's not easy. It's very difficult there. There's a bit of wind. The wind is moving around a bit. The greens are starting to solidify and they're exploded so much that they can do it.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
