The MASTERS
McIlroy set for final-round showdown with Reed at Augusta
RORY McILROY versus Patrick Reed, only this time it is not for glory and honour at the Ryder Cup but a place in golf history at the 82nd Masters. The gold of the Sam Ryder Trophy at Hazeltine and one of the great singles matches of all time has been swapped for the green of the most precious jacket in sport.
McIlroy shot a brilliant thirdround 65 including a birdie at the 18th to put the pressure on the American, who responded with a magnificent 67 of his own. Reed is the one with a three-shot lead but is that enough against the relentless McIlroy who looks like a man hellbent on completing his career Grand Slam mission?
What a contest it promises to be, and McIlroy set the scene perfectly.
‘It’s massive to be in the final group and I’m really excited to show Patrick and everyone else what I’ve got,’ he said. ‘I know he went to college in Augusta but I’m coming in to spoil the party. I’m ready.’
Reed, of course, came out on top in that singles match in Minneapolis in 2016 and now he has got a piece of golf history of his own in his sights. No player in the history of the Masters has ever shot four rounds in the sixties but he stands on the cusp of that unique threshold following rounds of 69, 66, 67. Chances are he will need another if he is going to win.
The finest compliment you can pay Reed is that, with a Hazeltine logoed umbrella in his bag, he had his fearless Ryder Cup game face on. On the back nine he had two amazing eagle threes and yet by the end he still hadn’t shrugged off McIlroy.
‘Rory is just a completely different player to anyone else in the game when he’s playing like this,’ said Sir Nick Faldo, on American television. ‘He is the golfing supernova, and I make him favourite.’
No other European golfer has ever won more than two of the four majors and now McIlroy will have his opportunity today to complete not only the set but one of the great UK sporting achievements of all time.
Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods... Rory McIlroy. That’s the company he would be joining, and just the thought must be enough to give any golf fan from these shores goosebumps.
One thing’s for sure: he will certainly have earned it if he finishes ahead of the rampant Reed. Let’s not forget that the nearly man in the majors, Rickie Fowler, is five back after a 65 of his own, with Jon Rahm, who also shot a seven-under round, six adrift.
A truly spectacular third round unfolded at Augusta as the best players in the world took full advantage of the softer greens caused by morning rain and took dead aim.
The forecast had predicted all sorts of dire warnings for the afternoon play but the green jackets can even keep thunderstorms at bay, it seems.
No one loves these conditions more than McIlroy, of course. This is how good he was on the front nine. At the fifth hole he struck a fairway bunker shot that Faldo described as one of the most incredible blows he had ever seen.
By the time he reached the ninth tee, it might only have been the third best shot he played on the outward half. For McIlroy, the fireworks began at the fourth, a hole that has given him fits in the past. Here he struck a long iron to 20ft and holed the putt.
The fairway bunker at the fifth is no-man’s land given there is so little room on which to land the ball on the correct shelf on the green but McIlroy pulled it off. At the sixth, his tee shot finished 12 inches from the hole. At the eighth he missed the green in two but then played a marvellous chip which hit the flag flush and dropped into the hole for his first eagle at Augusta in 176 holes. He clenched his fist in triumphant fashion.
At the time he had drawn level with Reed but the latter showed impressive composure to recover from a slow start to make his gains. The ninth and 10th are supposed to be holes where you just get your pars and move on but Reed, one of the great putters in the modern game, birdied both. That was
merely the prelude, however, to what happened at the two great risk-reward long holes on the back nine. At the 13th, Reed hit a marvellous approach to 10ft and rolled in the putt. Then, at the 15th, fortune certainly favoured the brave.
He had 268 yards to carry the water at this dangerous hole but he never flinched for a second, clearing the hazard with his three wood. He then chipped in from the side of the green. McIlroy, meanwhile, had put his second shot into the azaleas at the 13th and, for one horrible moment, it looked like he would lose his ball. But he found it amid the flora and made a momentumsaving par.
McIlroy might feel he is playing against the home boy today but many of the patrons are not big fans of Reed.
He left college amid all sorts of allegations that he cheated and even stole from his team mates — claims he vehemently denies although his old coach is on record as confirming them.
Then there is his toxic family situation, with Reed having nothing to do with his sister Hannah or his parents, who actually live in Augusta .
Not surprisingly, therefore, there are mixed feelings here at the idea that Reed could win the jacket. He’s certainly a vividly contrasting character to the only Augustan who ever won the Masters, the archetypal Southern gent, Larry Mize.
In one sense, though, there are eerie similarities. Mize won in 1987 by beating two of the best in Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros.
Rory is determined to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.