AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy keeps checking the leaderboards. Whether prancing from fairway to green or walking Augusta National, the five-time major champion steals glances to know where he stands.
At a place that still uses large analog boards, Friday’s updates made one thing clear: McIlroy is in command. A year after resolving his Masters heartbreak, he fired a 65 to sit six shots clear of the field after 36 holes — the largest two-round lead in Masters history across 90 editions. He’s chasing a second green jacket and a chance to be the first back-to-back winner at Augusta since Tiger Woods in 2001.
“I’ve always felt like this golf course can let you get on runs if you allow it,” McIlroy said. “I’ve always had the ability to go on these runs, but I think it was getting to the point where I would allow myself to play the course the way that I knew that I could. So it was getting past myself. It was staying aggressive.”
His week hasn’t been casual. McIlroy spent extra time at Augusta — practicing, chipping, putting and playing rounds to find odd positions and learn how to handle them. That work, he says, has been central to his form.
With his play, McIlroy has shifted the conversation from last year’s drama to the present. Still, the rest of the field is ready to chase. Among those within striking distance are Patrick Reed and Sam Burns, both six shots back. Reed, a 2018 Masters champion, said Friday he’s long wanted to repeat: “Since 2018, I have always wanted to put it on a second time. I love the position I put myself in.”
Justin Rose, a former major winner who nearly beat McIlroy in last year’s playoff, is five under and still hungry. “Of course I want to win this tournament. I don’t really need to try any harder,” Rose said. “Tying harder ain’t going to help me. So that’s probably the dance I’m doing with myself. I know the intrinsic motivation is there. It’s about execution.”
Tommy Fleetwood, who eagled twice Friday to shoot 68 and sits seven back, summed it simply: “It’s up to him what happens.”
McIlroy’s collapse in last year’s final round — and the way he handled the pressure afterward — lingered as both warning and lesson. This year, he seems mentally steadier. He joked about popping into the Champions locker room between rounds to see the green jacket and have a Coke Zero, a small comfort that helps keep perspective. “Over the years my mindset hasn’t been ‘Keep swinging.’ It’s been guided, tentative,” he said. “I think the experience I’ve accrued over the years and obviously with what happened last year, it makes it a bit easier out there to keep swinging.”
Heading into the weekend his message to himself is simple: focus inward. “The next two days for me is really about focusing on myself,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard to avoid those big leaderboards out there, but I know that I’ve got a lead. So I don’t need to keep checking it all the time.”
By the time he crested the hill to the 18th green Friday, the crowd — who had watched his name climb the boards — greeted him with growing adulation. He rolled in his ninth birdie of the day, his sixth in the final seven holes, lifted his putter in salute, and took one last look at the famous leaderboard.
It told him what he needed to know: he has 36 holes left to add to his story.
