SI

Rory McIlroy Made a Bit of Masters History While Making Round 2 Charge

He put himself back up on the leaderboard thanks to a great second-round performance.

Madison Williams

Rory McIlroy takes a shot at Augusta National during the Masters.
Rory McIlroy takes a shot at Augusta National during the Masters. / Michael Madrid-Imagn Images

After Rory McIlroy’s meltdown on the second half of the back nine during his first round of the Masters on Thursday, there was some doubt he’d be able to charge back and put himself in a competitive spot again this weekend.

But, McIlroy quickly proved any doubters wrong when he started on the back nine at Augusta National on Friday. He canned two birdies on holes 10 and 11, then parred the 12th and followed that up with an eagle on 13. His eagle putt understandably caused quite the reaction from the crowd. Golf fans would love to see McIlroy finish his career Grand Slam by finally capturing a Masters title.

Those were four straight threes on his scorecard to start the back nine, returning to 5 under in no time after starting the day back at even. McIlroy is the first player to pull off such a run of threes at Augusta National in 10 years—Hideki Matsuyama was the last to do so in the final round in 2015, according to The Athletic's Justin Ray. Making any bit of Masters history is impressive, even after a disastrous end to his first round.

McIlroy definitely redeemed himself on Friday, finishing 6 under on the day and landing tied for third at the end of his round. That was quite the jump after McIlroy’s two double bogeys on the back nine on Thursday pushed him back to even. He even birdied No. 15 on Friday, which he had double bogeyed on Thursday.

More Masters Coverage on Sports Illustrated

Published
Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

Home/Golf