By Rory Carroll
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Sunny skies greeted patrons flooding into Augusta National Golf Course on Saturday morning as anticipation builds for what is expected to be a riveting weekend at the Masters with many of the sport’s biggest names bunched atop the leaderboard.
Veteran English player Justin Rose led at the end of the first two rounds and is eight under par thanks to a hot putter but has American Bryson DeChambeau breathing down his neck just one shot back.
Many on hand for the weekend are yearning to see Rory McIlroy make golf history by finally winning the Green Jacket to become only the sixth player in history to triumph at all four of the sport’s majors.
Augusta National has been the site of painful collapses for McIlroy and that gut-wrenching history 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 into a share of third place with Canadian Corey Conners at six under par.
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 sits tied for fifth with three other players including Tyrrell Hatton, who along with DeChambeau represents players from the PGA Tour’s rival circuit, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Talks to merge the tours are reportedly at a standstill and the Masters represents one of the few events where players from both tours go head-to-head.
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 sun returning for the final round on Sunday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Ed Osmond)
Comments