|
 When the dust had settled on a windy day that kept the Georgia
pines bending and pin flags waving, defending champion Spieth was
still holding top spot -- but just barely when a five-shot lead was
chopped to a single stroke after an adventurous two-over 74.
McIlroy, who began the day four shots behind the pacesetting Texan
and fell a massive eight back with seven to play, stormed into
contention with a blistering back nine charge and the help of a late
Spieth stumble.
Northern Irishman McIlroy appeared headed in the wrong direction as
he covered the outward nine in one-over but caught fire after the
turn, plundering three birdies over his final six holes for a 71,
matching the lowest round of the day.
Should the world number three triumph on Sunday, he would become
only the sixth man to win all four of golf's blue riband events,
joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene
Sarazen.
"Look, I'm really trying to block that out," four-times major
champion McIlroy said. "I'm trying to beat guys on this leaderboard
that I've beaten before, so I need to take confidence from that and
know that I've been in this position before.
 "Maybe not on this golf course, but I've been in this position
before in big tournaments and been able to get the job done. So
that's the way I need to approach it."
New Zealand's Danny Lee (74) and American Scott Piercy (72) sit two
off the lead with Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (72), Denmark's Soren
Kjeldsen (74) and American Brandt Snedeker (72) one further back
after a wild and woolly day that saw just seven men under par as the
year's first major hit the midway mark.
Spieth had slept on a two-shot overnight cushion and by the time he
stepped onto the first tee to start his second round his advantage
had grown to three with none of the early starters able to mount a
serious challenge.
HUGE ROAR
The world number two went quickly to work, drawing a huge roar from
the large gallery tracking him when he rolled in a 14-foot birdie
putt at the first that put even more pressure on the chasing pack.
Spieth continued to pull away with an easy birdie at the third after
a pinpoint approach left him with a two-foot putt to get to
eight-under.
[to top of second column] |
But danger lurks everywhere at Augusta National, and Spieth found it
at the par-four fifth where he four-putted and ran up a double bogey
that slashed his advantage to three.
Spieth hit back with a birdie at the eighth but stumbled through the
turn with bogeys at nine and 10 followed by back-to-back bogeys at
16 and 17 before a draining a nervy 14-footer for par at the 18th to
keep the outright lead.
It marked the sixth consecutive round Spieth had sat alone atop the
Augusta leaderboard, something never done before at the Masters.
"It was tough. It was very tough," said Spieth. "We kept reminding
ourselves that even par is a good score, even par is a good score.
"But boy, that golf course changed very much throughout the day. We
were trying to adjust with the ever gusting and changing winds. That
was a hard golf course."
World number one Jason Day's struggles continued as he grinded out a
one-over 73 but the Australian ended the round just five strokes off
the pace and still very much in contention.
The devilish winds did blow plenty of contenders off course,
including one of the pre-Masters favorites in world number five
Rickie Fowler, three-time champion Phil Mickelson and 2011 winner
South African Charl Schwartzel.
Eight-times major champion Tom Watson also missed the cut and took a
final bow at Augusta National, shedding a tear as he walked up to
the 18th green in what was his 43rd and final Masters.
(Editing by Andrew Both/Mark Lamport-Stokes)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
