CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN
McIlroy and Tiger lead the charge as chasing pack tries to reel in nerveless Spieth
RORY McIILROY and Tiger Woods led the chase of Jordan Spieth at Augusta last night as some of the biggest names in golf battled to prevent the Masters’ becoming a two-day victory parade.
A dramatic day’s action saw significant moves on the board before Spieth had teed off in defence of his five-shot overnight lead.
McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson all took advantage of immaculate conditions and surfaces softened by heavy overnight rain to reel off birdies and try to bridge the massive chasm Spieth forced between himself and the rest of the field over the first two rounds.
Paired with Bubba Watson, McIlroy started exceptionally with an eagle on two thanks to a nerveless 37-foot putt. He then birdied holes eight and nine to complete the first nine in 32, after
posting 31 for the back nine in his second round.
He led the charge but almost as sensational was the form of Woods with four birdies in his first eight holes, while Mickelson birdied two, three and four. Spieth, though, was nerveless as the 21-year-old rolled in a putt for birdie at the second to hit 15under.
McIlroy’s form was transformed after his erratic, unhappy effort in the first nine of his second round.
He shot 40 and at one point he fellow below the cut, but an eagle at the 13th jolted him in to action.
Two holes later he birdied the second par five after a whopping 323-yard drive but gave it back with a bogey on the short 16th after a over-aggressive chip shot.
‘I think a few guys can still catch him,’ McIlroy said of Spieth before the third round. ‘It will take something extraordinary from myself to get up there, but you never know.
‘I know better than most people what can happen with the lead around here,’ he smiled, referring to his 2011 collapse.
Meanwhile, Darren Clarke shot a five-over 77 for his third round to leave him six-over par for the tournament. He was paired with Ian Poulter, but where the Englishman shot himself to fourover for the tournament with a round of 67, Clarke laboured around the course.
A terrific tee shot on 16 almost rolled in for a hole in one but that was a rare flirtation with form out of the ordinary for the European Ryder Cup captain.
Graeme McDowell was laboured as well as he posted a third-round 76 to move to fiveover.
He was frank about his ambitions for the weekend on making the cut, admitting that restoring his fitness and the technicalities of his play after a recent injury were his priority.