There are few golfers this side of Greg Norman who have the demons at The Masters that Rory McIlroy does. Whether it was his 2011 collapse or his shortcomings over the career in the midst of a decade-long major championship drought, the trials of Rory at Augusta National Golf Club are well-documented and seemingly popped up again in Round 1. After moving to 4-under and cruising, two inexplicable blow-up holes put him at even-par 72 for the first round and seemingly out of contention.
So it was to the surprise of everyone buying into that narrative when McIlroy came out on Friday for the second round and put on a show. While he was methodically plodding along for a 1-under front nine, he turned up the heat on the back nine with two birdies in an eagle on Holes No. 10-13 to move to 5-under for the round and tournament. After adding another birdie in a bogey-free round he found himself just two strokes off Justin Rose's lead with a real shot at winning heading into the weekend at The Masters.
Now we move onto the weekend. McIlroy sits tied for third with Corey Conners with just Bryson DeChambeau and the aforementioned Rose ahead of him. It's make-or-break time for Rory if he's ever going to win a Green Jacket, but his bounce-back effort has it seeming possible.
When will Rory and the rest of the players to make the cut tee off to start moving day on Saturday? We have The Masters tee times ready and waiting for you so you can tune in for the third round, complete with some fascinating pairings.
Saturday tee times for The Masters: Round 3 pairings and start times
Pairing | Masters Saturday Tee Time |
|---|---|
Tom Kim (+2) | 9:50 a.m. ET |
Joaquin Niemann (+2), Jordan Spieth (+2) | 10:00 a.m. ET |
Stephan Jaeger (+2), Max Greyserman (+2) | 10:10 a.m. ET |
Danny Willett (+2), J.T. Poston (+2) | 10:20 a.m. ET |
Jon Rahm (+2), Zach Johnson (+2) | 10:30 a.m. ET |
Patrick Cantlay (+2), Akshay Bhatia (+2) | 10:40 a.m. ET |
Denny McCarthy (+2), J.J. Spaun (+2) | 10:50 a.m. ET |
Maverick McNealy (+1), Charl Schwartzel (+2) | 11:10 a.m. ET |
Brian Campbell (+1), Byeong Hun An (+1) | 11:20 a.m. ET |
Aaron Rai (E), Justin Thomas (E) | 11:30 a.m. ET |
Sahith Theegala (E), Davis Thompson (E) | 11:40 a.m. ET |
Matt Fitzpatrick (E), Wyndham Clark (E) | 11:50 a.m. ET |
Nick Taylor (E), Daniel Berger (E) | 12:00 p.m. ET |
Tom Hoge (E), Max Homa (E) | 12:10 p.m. ET |
Harris English (-1), Min Woo Lee (-1) | 12:30 p.m. ET |
Sam Burns (-1), Nico Echavarria (-1) | 12:40 p.m. ET |
Brian Harman (-2), Bubba Watson (-1) | 12:50 p.m. ET |
Davis Riley (-2), Michael Kim (-2) | 1:00 p.m. ET |
Xander Schauffele (-2), Tommy Fleetwood (-2) | 1:10 p.m. ET |
Patrick Reed (-3), Collin Morikawa (-3) | 1:20 p.m. ET |
Ludvig Åberg (-3), Hideki Matsuyama (-3) | 1:30 p.m. ET |
Jason Day (-4), Sungjae Im (-3) | 1:50 p.m. ET |
Rasmus Hojgaard (-4), Viktor Hovland (-4) | 2:00 p.m. ET |
Scottie Scheffler (-5), Tyrrell Hatton (-5) | 2:10 p.m. ET |
Matt McCarty (-5), Shane Lowry (-5) | 2:20 p.m. ET |
Rory McIlroy (-6), Corey Conners (-6) | 2:30 p.m. ET |
Justin Rose (-8), Bryson DeChambeau (-7) | 2:40 p.m. ET |
There might not be a more odd-couple pairing than our final grouping of Rose and DeChambeau. Both are U.S. Open champions, which is fun in its own right, but the 36-hole leader is in his mid-40s and piecing his rounds together at Augusta, largely with the short game. Then there's Bryson, the biggest hitter in the golf world who bludgeons any course to death but has upped his game in majors. It should be a thrill ride there.
McIlroy, meanwhile, is paired with Conners as the two players tied at 6-under, which should be a relatively easy group to deal with for both. The frenetic energy between Scottie Scheffler and Tyrrell Hatton behind them, however, is going to be a wild thing to witness. Hatton has far more of a temper that can put on a show, but let's not forget that Scheffler can be a bit of a headcase at times on the course in a different way.
Further down the leaderboard but still interesting, Ludvig Åberg and Hideki Matsuyama is going to be a ball-striker's dream, Patrick Reed and Collin Morikawa could be saucy as hell, and plenty more. There's still a ton of action yet to unfold at Augusta National, and golf fans are definitely in for a treat on Saturday and throughout the weekend to determine the next Masters champion.