All due regard to the marquee names near the top of leader board through 54 openings of the Masters, but Sunday with Augusta National will be part 2 of the Rory McIlroy-Patrick Reed duel from the 2016 Ryder Cup on Hazeltine. The only difference this time is the fact that McIlroy will begin in a three-shot gap, as Reed lit up Augusta once again on Saturday, posting the five-under 67 to get to 14-under 202.
Early in the round, Reed made bogey on the par-4 third, opening the door for all those chasing him, and just about everyone began breathing down his neck of the guitar. The likes of McIlroy, Rickie Fowler plus Jon Rahm were making their own move, while Reed was one particular over through his first 4 holes. But birdies at the 5th and eighth holes settled matters down.
“Early on I struggled a little bit along with how far the ball was heading and how much it was reacting within the greens since the past couple times we’ve been playing for so much jump and roll out and that extra feet of roll on the greens, inch Reed said. “Because of that We burned a couple of edges and strike a couple of iron shots that I believed were going to be good and wound up just a hair off, but I had been able to adapt after the fourth gap and from that point on it just appeared to get back in the rhythm I’ve been actively playing. Hopefully I can adapt a little faster tomorrow and be able to figure it from the first hole rather than the fourth. inch
Those seeking to catch Reed are lucky he or she didn’t have it figured out right away upon Saturday, because when he righted the ship, he almost leaped away with the tournament. The five-time PGA Tour winner got within a zone as he made the change, dropping a 25-footer for birdie at the ninth and nine-footer on the 10th to get to 12 under. He or she dropped his second shot on the par-3 12th, but recovered having an eagle at the par-5 13th, after which another eagle at the par-5 fifteenth, chipping in from just from the front of the green.
“Just a nice little reception (lob wedge) and I was simply trying to get it within a little three-foot circle and I just happened in order to land it in the right place. From my angle it was relocating pretty hard left, so I had been lucky it went in, inch he said.
He did make one more bogey at the par-3 16th, three-putting through 45 feet, but a k?rester save from over the 17th eco-friendly quickly erased that memory, and got into the clubhouse at fourteen under with one more par on 18. He leads by 3 over McIlroy, who he aren’t wait to take on once again, this time inside a much different setting.
“Really excited. Any time you come out and also have the lead going into Sunday that you simply always going to be excited about this, but to be able to play against Rory and have him side-by-side with me will probably be a lot of fun, ” Reed said. “Every time we play with each other all of us seem to have a lot of fun, and seem to both play some strong golf. So , hopefully we can acquire some fireworks out there and have a fun Weekend. ”
In the event that Reed is able to better McIlroy such as he did at Hazeltine, it will make him the fourth straight new major winner at the Masters, becoming a member of Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett plus Sergio Garcia. And while he’ll get any score he can get if this means victory, another sub-70 circular would make him the first gamer in Masters history to capture in the 60s all four rounds.
But McIlroy will not be backing down, evidenced by their superb, bogey-free seven-under 65 upon Saturday that matched the circular of the week and put him ready to take a shot at the career Great Slam at 11-under 205. This individual too is relishing the opportunity to encounter off with Reed again.
“It’s massive. This really is my first final group right here since 2011 and I feel like We learned an awful lot from that day time and hopefully all that I did find out seven years ago I can put into practice the next day, ” McIlroy said. “So I am really excited to go out there the next day, show everyone what I’ve obtained, show Patrick Reed what I have got and, you know, all the stress is on him tomorrow. This individual went to Augusta State, he’s obtained a lot of support here and Now i’m hoping to come in and spoil the particular party. ”
While those two will provide lots of entertainment, so too will the guys shut behind, including Fowler, who furthermore posted a bogey-free seven-under sixty-five that got him to nine-under 207. He’s five back, yet don’t count out another man in a desperate search for his initial major.
“We’re in a good spot. The golfing tournament starts tomorrow on the back again nine, so today was huge to at least give ourselves an opportunity to go get it done tomorrow, ” stated Fowler.
One particular behind Fowler is Spain’s Rahm, who also carded a bogey-free seven-under 65 to move to eight-under 208. Henrik Stenson is at seven-under 209, and Tommy Fleetwood, Bubba Watson and Marc Leishman are in six-under 210.
