AUGUSTA — He peered at the leaderboard after finishing his round Friday at Augusta National and Rory McIlroy was asked what he thought about those players on it as the Masters heads into the weekend.
“I was just looking for my name,” he said. “I wasn’t really looking for the others.”
Well, his name is right there, perhaps where some believed it would be when the week began, certainly not where many thought it would be when the day began.
After a horrific end to his opening round that seemingly knocked him out of the tournament, McIlroy rebounded Friday with a 6-under-par 66—the low round of the day—that included four birdies, an eagle and no bogeys to move into contention.
He trails leader Justin Rose by two strokes and is one back of U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
“I think overall just proud of myself with how I responded today after the finish last night,” said McIlroy, who is at 138, 6 under par. “I just had to remind myself that I played really good golf yesterday, and I wasn’t going to let two bad holes sort of dictate the narrative for the rest of the week.
“Ultimately, just proud of how I got back into it today.”
McIlroy did it with patience, a trait he has admitted has sometimes not been in enough supply.
With Rose having shot a first-day 65 and getting to 9 under par on the back, McIlroy was just 1 under through nine holes and seemingly in need of a burst.
He got it with consecutive birdies at the 10th and 11th holes, two of the harder holes—the 11th is playing as the second toughest—and then made an eagle at the par-5 13th after thinking he had hit his approach in the water.
“I don't think it was really a decision to go for it or not—I was between a 4- and a 5-iron,” McIlroy said. “And usually the ball comes out of it spinnier out of the pine straw. So I hit a 4-iron, and the follow-through, definitely I saved it, and I was glad that I hit 4-iron. I covered that little corner there.
“When the ball was in the air, I was like, you idiot, what did you do? It’s one of those ones, as well, it’s a pin that even if you do hit it into the hazard, it’s a pretty—not a routine up-and-down, but it’s a little easier than, say, where the pin was yesterday in that front section.
“I rode my luck a little bit with that second shot but was nice to take advantage of it.”
McIlroy’s shot barely cleared the water and left him with a 9-footer for eagle.
Roaring into contention. McIlroy eagles No. 13 and is now tied for fourth. #themasters pic.twitter.com/1i65HRkd33
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2025
And after he made birdie at the 15th, things had completely changed from a day earlier, when McIlroy made doubles at both the 15th and 17th holes to severely hurt his chances. He went from 4 under par to even in a matter of moments and outside of the top 20.
“I was obviously surprised that I had done that,” McIlroy said of the chip shot that he hit onto the 15th and saw roll into the water. “And I forgot that I could try to play it again. I went straight to the drop zone, and then afterwards, I was thinking, like, oh, I could have tried to just chip that again.
“But it was just one of those things ... I was so frustrated last night because I played so well, and you can make these big numbers from absolutely nowhere on this golf course, just like the most benign position.
“So it was a good reminder. It was a good reminder last night that you just have to have your wits about you on every single golf shot. And then today, when the second shot was in the air, it was a little touch and go. Even where the ball finished sort of on the slope, I was thinking of running to mark it to make sure it wasn’t going to run back down the hill.
“It was nice to make a 4 there. I guess just keep the momentum going that I had built up through those previous holes, 10, 11, 13.”
McIlroy always comes into the Masters with considerable hype as he needs the tournament to complete a career Grand Slam. He’s been in this position since winning his third different major at the 2014 British Open.
A month later, he won the PGA Championship for the second time, securing a fourth major title—a number he’s now been stuck on for 11 years.
At age 35, this year seemed a bit different. McIlroy, ranked second in the Official World Golf Ranking, has been playing as well as anyone in the world for six months.
He won at Pebble Beach and the Players Championship and two weeks ago was tied for fourth at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
“I don't think I proved anything,” McIlroy said. “If anything, I just backed up the belief that I have in myself, and the belief that I’m as resilient as anyone else out here.
“I’ve been really proud of how resilient I’ve been the whole way throughout my career, and I think today was just another example of that.”
McIlroy, however, was not getting ahead of himself. Energized? Not really, he said. He was exhausted after the quick turnaround from Thursday night to Friday morning.
He’ll have to time to rest before the third round.
“It’s only halfway,” he said. “We've got 36 holes to go on a very, very tough golf course. Anything can happen. And all I’m focused on is trying to hit a good tee shot in the fairway on the first hole tomorrow.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy Roars Back Into Contention at Masters With Friday 66.
