Rory McIlroy’s Struggles in the Third Round
Defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy had promised to “keep his foot on the gas” despite his commanding lead, but the third round proved to be a challenging one for the Northern Irishman. His performance started with a bogey on the first hole after he went over the back of the green. This setback reduced his six-shot lead to four as his playing partner, Sam Burns, birdied the same hole. Additionally, 2018 champion Patrick Reed also birdied in the group ahead of McIlroy.
As the round progressed, McIlroy found himself under pressure from two-time winner and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who was only five shots behind. Scheffler was having a career-best round at Augusta, which added to the tension for McIlroy.
By the time McIlroy teed off on the first hole, Scheffler had already recorded his best front nine (31) at Augusta. He then birdied the 11th to be six under for his round, starting at level par. Scheffler eagled the second hole and reached the turn with three consecutive birdies, including nearly holing his approach shot on the ninth.
McIlroy credited the strength of his opening two rounds to his detailed preparation. As a champion, he has the advantage of being able to play practice rounds, albeit with an Augusta National member, more frequently than other competitors. The Northern Irishman certainly took full advantage of this opportunity in the weeks leading up to the tournament.
Following the Players Championship, where he failed to successfully defend his title, McIlroy had three weeks off to focus on his preparation. By his own admission, he does not enjoy playing the PGA Tour events in Texas. This decision raised a few eyebrows, but McIlroy spent the time focusing on practice, which even included day trips from his Florida home via private jet.
“I honestly just don’t like the three tournaments leading up to this event, I’d rather come up here,” said the world number two, who is seeking to follow Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Sir Nick Faldo in winning back-to-back Masters titles. “I did a couple of days where I dropped (daughter) Poppy to school, flew up here, played, landed back home and had dinner with her or Erica (his wife) probably.”
“I felt it was a better use of my time than going to Houston or San Antonio. Between the Players and starting on Thursday, I’ve been on this golf course, like Monday, Tuesday last week, then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I was up here for a day the week before as well. I’ve been on this golf course so much the last three weeks and that’s been a combination of practice and chipping and putting around greens. Then just playing one ball and shooting scores and ending up in weird places that you maybe never find yourself and just trying to figure it out.”
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