Rory McIlroy's Big Lead Wiped Out After Erratic Third Round As Masters Finely Poised Heading Into Sunday

After two rounds of The Masters, it appeared destined to have a very different feel to the 2025 edition, even if it seemed likely to have the same winner.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy took control of proceedings on Friday with a late birdie blitz that saw him move to 12-under with a lead of six – the largest 36-hole lead in Masters history.

During his seven-under 65, McIlroy appeared unburdened by the stresses that had hounded him at Augusta National during his long pursuit of the Green Jacket.

So, would we see more of the same on Saturday? Or were there more twists to come?

The answer was decisively the latter, as McIlroy’s erratic round of 73 bore more resemblance to his rollercoaster Sunday a year ago than the previous day’s brilliance.

The alarm bells began ringing early, as McIlroy bogeyed the first before making amends with a birdie on the third.

While that kept him on an even keel, the trouble for the champion was that others were eating into his lead, with the likes of Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Cameron Young and Shane Lowry, who made a hole-in-one at the sixth, all closing the gap as McIlroy embarked on a run of pars.

At the start of the second nine, McIlroy remained at 12-under, the same score he began the day on, with Young, at the 15th, just one back.

McIlroy’s second birdie of his round at the 10th gave him breathing space, and soon after, it got even better for him when Young found the water with a misjudged third at the 15th, resulting in a bogey.

With the opportunity to reestablish control available, instead, on the 11th, McIlroy emulated Young, with his ball rolling into the pond, leading to his first double bogey of the week.

That pegged McIlroy back to 11 under, with Young just one behind, and on the 16th, he joined him at the top with his eighth birdie of the day.

Incredibly, soon after, McIlroy’s huge advantage at the start of the day vanished completely with a bogey at the 12th as Young took the solo lead by one.

Despite McIlroy’s struggles, he launched an encouraging recovery with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th to regain the lead, but another bogey at the 17th put him one over for the day and level with Young, before his birdie putt at the 18th stayed out.

Afterwards, McIlroy remained determined to stay positive. He said: "I'm still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can't forget that, but I do know I'm going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win."

Like last year, McIlroy will be in the final group, albeit alongside Young rather than Bryson DeChambeau this time around.

He feels that it is a more comfortable pairing than the one he faced a year ago. He added: "I'd like to think that I'll play a little bit freer and I'll play, you know, like I've already got a Green Jacket, which I do.

"Sometimes I maybe just have to remind myself of that, but I think as well that the stakes in terms of, like, the pairing will be just a little bit easier.

"You know, the atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier. Yeah, I'm not worried about that at all. I wish I was a few shots better off, but I'm comfortable. I played with Cam the first two days. Playing with him again tomorrow. I think it's a comfortable group for both of us.

Right behind the leaders is Sam Burns, just one back, while Lowry is on nine under in fourth. Jason Day and Justin Rose are tied for fifth on eight under, three back of the leaders.

McIlroy and Young begin at 2.25pm local time on Sunday.