The Masters 2025: McIlroy storms into early third round lead

Rory McIlroy enjoyed a blistering start to his third round at the Masters on Saturday, following up a birdie at the first with an eagle at the second to go a shot ahead of overnight leader Justin Rose.

Under partly cloudy skies and ideal scoring conditions, McIlroy chipped in for eagle on the par-five second as he looks to complete a career Grand Slam at Augusta National this weekend.

Bryson DeChambeau, who is in the group behind McIlroy, rolled in a long birdie putt on the first to draw even with his playing partner Rose at eight-under par.

A star-studded leaderboard has fans buzzing about the possibility of a classic finish on Sunday and many patrons are pulling for McIlroy to finally win the Green Jacket and become only the sixth player to claim all four of the sport’s majors.

Augusta National has been the site of painful collapses for McIlroy and that gut-wrenching run threatened to repeat itself when he stumbled late in his opening round with two double bogeys.

But the Northern Irishman bounced back admirably on Friday with a thrilling round of 66 to climb back into contention and that momentum appears to have carried over into Saturday’s round.

A heavyweight battle between McIlroy and defending champion Scottie Scheffler could still materialise after the world number one battled through windy conditions on Friday afternoon.

Scheffler birdied the first hole on Saturday to move to six under par.

Carding a low score on “moving day” Saturday is usually critical at the year’s first major.

In each of the last eight Masters, the eventual champion was among the top two including ties on the leaderboard at the conclusion of the third round, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Partly cloudy skies were forecast for the afternoon with the sun returning for the final round on Sunday.