Rory on the charge
McIlroy hunts down Reed with early third round blitz
McIlroy in the mix for Grand Slam heading into final round at Augusta
THE familiar Rory McIlroy strut was in full effect on Augusta’s eighth green as he walked over to pick his ball out of the hole after racing in an eagle that signalled his intention to complete a career Grand Slam.
During a third round when plenty of players were making ground – England’s Tommy Fleetwood setting the serious clubhouse lead at six under par after a 66 – McIlroy picked up five shots over his opening eight holes. He turned at nine under for the tournament, with only the American Patrick Reed above him on the leaderboard.
Others were also swinging in the rain with great success. Jon Rahm of Spain, previous champion Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler among them. However, McIlroy was on fire, with birdies on the third and fourth, as well as the sixth and then came that eagle, when from off the green he charged his chip at the hole and it hit the flag and dropped.
Just as important was a fine up and down from a bunker at the parthree 12th and shortly after that Reed fell back to 11 and his lead was reduced to two. McIlroy even topped that at the par-five 13th hole, when his club came flying out of his hand on the second shot and the ball disappeared into the flowers.
After a short time sizing up his lie and wondering whether or not the members would be upset if he did a bit of destructive gardening, McIlroy got to the edge of the green with his third shot. There would be no second impressive chip in from off the green, but he gave himself a six-foot put for a par.
The fact that he nailed it, to keep himself in second place can only bode well for his temperament coming into the final round.
This 82nd Masters carries distinct shades of 1987, when a man with firm Augusta connections held off a high-class leaderboard to claim the green jacket.
There, the comparison between the archetypal Southern gent Larry Mize and Reed must end.
While Mize remains one of this gentle city’s favourite sons, the sight of Reed threatening to follow in his footsteps produced a decidedly different reaction here, with plenty of one-handed clapping among the patrons.
Indeed, a newspaper based just four hours away has claimed that even his parents would have mixed feelings if Reed won — if they had any feelings at all.
‘Reed has turned his back on his own parents, who live here in Augusta but have no relationship with their son, his wife Justine, or their young grandkids. It’s a sordid tale,’ wrote Ed Hardin, in a no-holdsbarred piece in the Greensboro News and Record that underlined in no uncertain terms the feelings of many Augustans.
While Reed’s parents were certainly patrons at one point, it is not known if they are here this year. What is known is that, at a recent Masters, Justine had a guard walking by her side in case she was approached by Reed’s father. Two years ago, Reed’s sister Hannah underlined the toxicity when she posted a lengthy Facebook missive on why her brother was a ‘horrible, selfish stranger’.
‘While the feelgood story oozing out of the airways this weekend [about Reed] will sound nice, there are people here in Augusta who cringe at the thought of Reed putting on a green jacket on Sunday,’ wrote Hardin.
It is safe to assume their number include some of his old Augusta college team-mates — he went there after being forced to leave the University of Georgia, in mysterious circumstances — who accused him not only of cheating but stealing from them.
When the allegations surfaced in a book about the PGA Tour in 2015, Reed went on the attack, doing an interview with America’s Golf Channel where he vehemently rebutted the claims — only for one of his coaches to go on record and say he thought everything in the book was accurate.
Hardin concluded: ‘His previous rounds here suggested there were too many issues in this town between him and a shot at a Masters title. In fact, before Thursday’s 69, Reed had never broken 70 at Augusta National. He’s never finished in the top 20 and, before [Friday], no one here really believed he would ever be a threat to win.
‘Now, they’re suddenly concerned.’
To be fair, Reed has gone some way to rebuilding his reputation since turning pro. He is invariably approachable and articulate. It has helped that he has enjoyed a fine PGA Tour career, and particularly with his performances at the Ryder Cup, where he was America’s best player in 2014 and 2016.
But, after only three years on tour, he was voted the second least favourite player among his peers, while even his Ryder Cup playing partner Jordan Spieth must have been perturbed when Reed had a sly dig at him recently. After a rules decision went against Reed at the Valspar Championship in Florida last month he said: ‘I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth.’
Still, the scorecard doesn’t take into account a man’s alleged transgressions and what no one could dispute is that Reed has played some brilliant golf, estab-
lishing a two-shot lead at halfway from Marc Leishman, who would be a heart-warming winner.
Three years ago, the Aussie had to miss the Masters because his wife, Audrey was gravely ill. She was given less than a 10 per cent chance of survival, but has made a miraculous recovery to take her place alongside her husband in Augusta and their three children.
As if the thought of Reed winning was not hard enough for some patrons to take, the awful weather that confronted them yesterday morning when they pulled back the curtains would not have improved their mood.
The forecast had declared the chance of rain for the third round at 100 per cent, and it duly started falling from 9am onwards.
It didn’t bother the greatest players in the world as the birdies kept on coming, while the patrons in their rain capes lapped it all up. A career slam beckons for McIlroy today but as 2011 showed him, nothing ever comes easy at Augusta National.