AUGUSTA, Ga. — The greatest start to a round in Masters history wasn’t enough for Rory McIlroy.
He delivered what looked to be a haymaker late Saturday afternoon, a 6-iron shot so majestic and pure that he walked 10 yards before he saw it land six feet away for an eagle putt on the 15th hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
Bryson DeChambeau wasn’t the least bit fazed. He hit his tee shot to four feet for a birdie on the par-3 16th, posing briefly to stare at the leaderboard, working up a gallery already delirious from a roaring, raucous third day at the 89th edition of the Masters.
“When I made that,” DeChambeau said, “I looked up and I said — kind of as a statement — like, ‘You know what? I’m still here. I’m going to keep going. I’m not going to back down.'”
McIlroy finished off another 6-under-par 66 for his first 54-hole lead in a major tournament since he last captured his fourth such title at the 2014 PGA Championship. At stake Sunday at the Masters is a chance to end 11 years chasing the career Grand Slam, the most elite club in golf.